Super Metal Bros
by Amanacer Fiend
Summary: What happens when a certain robot is sent to the Mushroom Kingdom? Read to find out. T rated just to be safe. Story updated, so Read & Review please!
1. Chapter 1

A quick note, You may notice that a few chapters are missing. Well, I recently lost Internet and I had nothing else to do. So I looked through this story and it needed some serious work. So I updated it, spell checked it, and I combined a few chapters.

So On with the story.

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

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"It is almost done."

The voice came from a large man who goes by the name of Dr. Eggman, a large man with long legs and a mustache like a walrus. He was working in a private sector of his laboratory, a room filled with an assortment of equipment, used for the construction of his many robots. In the center of the room was a large table with a small blue robot on it, a robot that almost caused the destruction of all organic life on the planet.

Eggman was looking over the necessary data for this experiment.

"All I need is to do to finish is to upload the final program sequence.." said Eggman.

He got up from his seat and grabbed a cable from the side of the computer, and went over to the robot. He pressed a button on the side of the robot's head, opening a hatch on top.

"So we won't have a repeat of last time too, now won't we?" said Eggman as he placed the end of the cable into a slot, making a click when fully attached. Eggman walked back towards his computer, and pressed "Enter".

"Download in progress" read the screen, showing a download bar slowly filling up.

"It's time for your rebirth." but Eggman was cut off when alarms started to blare.

Eggman ran towards an intercom near the door, "What's going on Decoe!" shouted Eggman. "Doctor" said a robotic voice. "Something is approaching the base at high speeds."

Eggman then showed a look of anger, "It's that blasted hedgehog again, Can't I ever have a break?" He pressed the button, opening the door. He was half way through when he turned towards his creation. "I'll Be right back my little friend, I just need to get rid of a certain pest." he then ran through the door and was out of site.

The room was empty, devoid of life, well not actual life to say the least. The robot somehow activated, it sat up slowly, and its eye screen started to show 2 red, oval ring-shaped eyes. It moved it's head around to examine it's environment. It then jumped off the table and headed for the door, but was yanked back and landed on it's back. It turned to see the cable was still attached to it's head.

The machine then wrapped it's metallic hand around the plug, and removed it which the computer then replied, "Error, Connection has failed, 50% complete." The robot didn't register the message, and it then walked through the door and went upstairs.

In a room that looked like the main control room with some kind of device in the center, the Doctor and 2 other robots, one Gold and tall the other silver and stubby, were in position for the arrival of the object speeding towards the base.

"How long until Sonic reaches the base, Decoe?" asked Eggman. The Gold robot called Decoe looked down at the radar, "In about 2 minutes and counting doctor." said the robot. Eggman then looked at the Silver robot, "Are all robots ready for departure Hecoe?" he asked. Hecoe looked on his screen, "Affirmative, all the droids have been prepared and ready to depart."

Eggman then had a devious grin, "Let's hope this time we rid ourselves of that hedgehog once and for all." said Eggman.

The blue robot was a quarter of the way to the top when it heard the sound of large mechanical doors opening. It looked out of a near-by window to see an army of robots, exiting the building by the hundreds. The blue robot looked on until their was an announcement on the intercom, "Attention all robots, The target is heading towards us, make sure that he is stopped and exterminated." after the announcement, the blue robot continued on.

Outside, a blue blur was speeding through the forest surrounding the base at breakneck speeds. The blur is known as Sonic the Hedgehog. He looked on ahead to see the base surrounded by an assortment of robots. "Looks like Eggman's been expecting me." he said with a sigh. "so much for the surprise party." He then he ran right infront of the army as they fire their lasers.

The blue robot made it half way, then started to hear explosions. It looked out of another window to see robots firing lasers at a small blue blur that was to fast for them. It also saw some robots explode as the blur passed through them. The robot then tried to focus more on the blur, but was too fast. It then continued to run towards the top.

Sonic was busy running and smashing the robots, but then he saw a vent. "Looks like he'll have his surprise after all." he said with a smirk as he slid under a robot and right into the vent.

"Doctor, we lost visual of the target." said Decoe. Eggman didn't look pleased with the report. "He must of somehow entered the main building." he said angrily, he then took a mike, "Attention all robots, the target has entered the main building, report back immediately!" he said. He put down the mike, and turned towards Hecoe, "Is the internal security functional?" he asked.

Hecoe checked his screen, "Yes doctor, all personnel is functional." Eggman smiled a bit, "Good, lets see if that furball can get past these toys, heheheheh..." he laughed.

The blue robot was half way when it saw 2 other robots approaching it. They were cylinder shaped with 2 brass wings on each side, they also have a red lens on the front. "Target Identified: commence attack" said one of the 2 as they fired laser beams from it's eye at the blue robot.

Inside it's metal head, something clicked and the words "Engaging Combat Mode" appeared in it's visuals.

The robot dodged the laser blasts by flipping to the side. It then jumped on one of the 2 other robots and turned it towards the other and it fired it's laser, destroying the machine. The blue bot then punched into the machine's red eye, which caused it to fly right at the wall as the blue bot jumped off at the last second. it then went back to running upwards.

Hecoe looked away from his screen, "Doctor, we've lost contact with 2 G-12 units at sector 15." Eggman grumbled, "He already made it half-way huh?" He then turned towards Decoe, "I need all security cameras online now!" "Affirmative" called Hecoe, as he brought up the footage. The vid was partially static, but it clearly showed the robot Eggman was working on, destroying some robots. "WHAAAAAAT, What's Metal Sonic doing there!" Eggman exclaimed. Eggman then picked up his mike again, "All robot's do not destroy that Blue robot, I repeat, do not destroy that blue robot." he shouted, "I'll dismantle anyone who gives that one even a smudge!" he then thrown down the mike, breaking it.

Eggman then calmed down a bit, "He must of finished downloading the program." he said. "But why is he trying to reach me?" he added.

The robot called Metal Sonic was busy smashing the other robots when all of a sudden, the robots attacking Metal Sonic ceased firing and went of into another direction. Metal Sonic tried to compute what just happened, but then heard a voice behind him. "That's some sweet fighting there, Metal." it said nonchalantly. Metal Sonic turned to see an antromorphic blue hedgehog behind him. It was smiling at him, "Remember me?" he said. Metal tipped his head to the side, as if in confusion. The Blue hedgehog then shrugged, "Guess not." he said as he approached Metal. When he was about 2 feet away from Metal, he stopped.

"The names Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." He said with his hand outstretched. Metal analyzed the hedgehog, trying to understand this behavior. Metal then slowly extended it's own hand, but when they were about to grasp hands, they both heard a sound, the sound of an entire mechanical army going through the hall. Sonic then started to get ready to run, but turned towards Metal and smiled, "Well nice talking to ya!" he said. Then he ran up the stairs, straight for Eggman. Metal looked up the stair where Sonic was, then back at his own hand in confusion, trying to process what Sonic said,

"That's some sweet fighting there, Metal." but he was out of thought when the sound of the army was coming closer.

The CPU in Metal's head then gave out the most logical action it can think of, follow Sonic, since he and Metal both want to reach the Doctor, for some reason or another.

In the Main Control Room, Eggman watched the video of Sonic and Metal's meeting, trying to figure out why Metal acted like that, but then lost his train of thought when Decoe said, "Doctor, Sonic is now just a few floors away from central control." Eggman then turned away from his screen for a moment. "Decoe, seal off the room, we cannot let Sonic in." said Eggman. "Affermative." said Decoe, it then pressed a button on it's board. All the steel doors in the room closed, not letting anything in, or anything out.

Eggman grinned at this and said, "Lets see our little Warthog get in now." While he was gloating, Decoe and Hecoe both hear something outside one of the doors, like a saw blade cutting metal. They both looked at the doctor, "Doctor, you might want to hear this." they both said.

Eggman stopped gloating, but that's when Sonic bursted through the door as a spinning blue ball. Sonic jumped out of his position, exclaiming "Honey, I'm Home!"

But Eggman was somehow unphased by this intrusion.

"So Sonic," said Eggman, "You manage to bypass my security for the umteenth time."

Sonic crossed his arms and smirked, "Maybe your security is just to slow to catch me."

Metal just got to the door, but just peeked inside, seeing Sonic and Eggman face to face. "Maybe so, have you've come to destroy my laboratory yet again?" Asked Eggman. Sonic nodded his head, "That, and I want the Chaos Emeralds you stole."

'Chaos Emeralds?' The words in Metal's CPU visualized, it searched for the term in it's memory bank, but got up empty.

Eggman backed away to the center of the room where the device was and said, "Oh, you mean these?" and presses a button. The cylindrical metal opened revealing a glass tube with 7 gems floating in place, one red, one blue, one purple, one yellow, one green, and one white.

Sonic then nodded again, "Yep, those ones." Sonic said, "I was wondering you can give them back, then I may not have to break any more of your toys." Eggman put his right hand on his chin as if he's thinking then spoke, "Well, let me give you my answer in the following way." he said deviantly. He then pressed another button, opening another door, revealing a different kind of robot, it looked tank shaped with a humanoid shape torso and a rail gun for each arm.

Eggman thrusted his right arm out shouting, "Erase this pest!" He then ran out of the cross fire, and just in time, the rail gun bot opened fire on sonic but he dodged the bullets as he started to run on the walls. Metal watched the battle, studying the fighting style of the blue fighter. Sonic then jumped of the walls right behind the robot and then curled up into a spinning ball, launching himself into the robot's back, sending it to a wall just near the door that Metal was hiding behind.

Sonic then stopped infront of the robot, crossed his arms again and smiled saying with an ego, "You still haven't learned your lesson yet Eggman, You can't hit The Fastest Thing Alive with things that slow." Eggman looked frightened, but then saw his robot was still functional, and aiming behind Sonic. Eggman smirked and Asked, "Tell me Sonic, how would you like to be the fastest piece of Swiss!?" He then snapped his fingers and the robot started to fire again, but Sonic dodge it and the bullets were heading towards Eggman.

Eggman freaked out and jumped out of the way, but the bullets struck the unit containing the Chaos Emeralds, "You Fool!" shouted Eggman at the Robot. Sonic, Metal and Eggman then started to see the machine glow along with Emeralds. Sonic looked shocked, "What's going on!" he shouted. "The machines' being overloaded, It's out of control!" shouted Eggman.

The energy from the machine started to glow even brighter, resulting in a large sphere of light that engulfed the room.

When the light made it to Metal, his systems started to fail and became offline.

Outside, the ball of light grown even larger every second, engulfing everything in a 20 mile radius.

Metal's systems became online again, his visuals only see a tunnel of multi colored energy with a light at the end of the tunnel which then Metal exited, seeing a strange land with a castle at the middle. Metal tried to examine his new environment, but all he saw was the ground coming closer and closer until he hit the ground hard, causing his visual to shut off, but not until he saw someone coming, a short plumber in blue overalls, a red shirt and cap to be exact.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

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All Metal saw was darkness, nothing but pitch black before him. after a few minutes on nothing, a shimmer of light sparkled infront of him. Metal then moved towards the light and when he got a few feet away, a voice was heard that echoed in his thought processor of a mind. It was an angelic voice, one of such beauty and elegance, and somehow Metal understood such a thing.

"Warrior, you are needed."

Metal tried to scan for the source of the voice, but all his scanners were not functioning. He was about to run a full system check but stopped by the voice.

"Their is nothing wrong with your instruments." said the voice, "You are in what living creatures called a dream."

Metal responded by a series of beeps.

"How are your able to dream?" asked the voice. "Well you are very special in every sense of the word, It's just not normal for one such as yourself to be able to dream."

Metal tipped his head to the side in confusion.

"I would like to explain, but time is of the essence." the voice said quickly. "You have been sent from your world to defeat an evil that threatens the very life of both our worlds."

Metal was listening intently.

"You are chosen because you have what most machines don't, a pure heart and an iron will."

"The other reason is that there are those who are currently in need of you help."

Metal acknowledged this as a mission, giving another series of beeps.

"I thank you warrior." the voice said gratefully, "but now you must wake-up."

Then the world turned brighter.

Metal's visuals flashed on. He sat up and looked around, seeing the room he's in is a bit messy, with a few tables and desks laying about. Disorderly papers were placed on the tables, whereas a few odd-looking mechanical machines were left laying about, nothing like the Doctor's laboratory. He then looked on himself, seeing that parts of his body was a little dented, but nothing too serious.

Metal got up from where he was sitting, which is another steel table like the doctors. He looked around the room for a while, analyzing all the odd machines in sight.

While scanning the machines, the door opened revealing a short old man with thick glasses, a white lab coat, and a strand of white hair sticking up on his bald head.

"So your finally awake." he said. "You had me worried that you may never go back online with that impact."

Metal turned towards the strange man. "Who...are you?" Metal asked in a voice like a young boy. But then he covered where his supposed mouth is.

The man saw this and chuckled, "It seems your surprised at the upgrades I gave you." Metal turned back at the man. "Upgrades?" he asked.

"Yes, I gave your system a tune-up, even added my own special touch." Said the man, "But it was hard, considering your mechanics are unlike any I've ever seen."

Metal looked away from the man and looked at the rest of his body.

The man then spoke up, "Oh, Where are my manners, my name is Prof. Elvin Gadd" the Professor said. "But everyone calls me E. Gadd."

'E. Gadd?' thought Metal, analyzing the strange man.

It was silent for a few moments.

"Professor?" Metal Asked, "Where exactly am I?"

"Why you are in my laboratory in the castle of the Mushroom Kingdom." answered . "A kingdom of wonder, except when Bowser tries to capture our princess."

"Bow-ser?" asked Metal, "What's a Bow-ser?"

was about to answer when someone or rather something went through the door. It is short, stubby creature with beady eyes, no nose, a white mushroom cap with brown spots, a white mustache, wears a purple vest with gold trimmings and finally has a cane with a mushroom cap in it's hand. Metal was kind of surprised at the appearance of this new creature.

"I say," said the thing in an old British accent. "The princess is wondering if your finished with that mechanical thingy-majigy that Mario found."

'Mario?' thought Metal.

It then looked at Metal saying, "Well it looks like you have, so will you and your metallic friend come with me to see the princess?"

"Very well then Toadsworth." said , "I'll be their in just a minute."

The creature called Toadsworth then turned and out of the door.

"What...was that?" asked Metal

E. Gadd turned to face Metal, "That was Toadsworth, he is the advisor to her majesty herself."

"That's not what I meant Professor." said Metal, "I mean 'What Was That?'" he added.

"He is a Toad, which are many in this part of the world." said , "But we need to see the princess now, she is expecting us."

'The princess?' thought Metal.

E. Gadd ran through the door while Metal came from the rear. While running, Metal saw much of the castle, which was pretty huge infact. He recorded all of his sights down, The strange 'Toads' doing chores like cleaning and sweeping the castle interior, and before he knew it, they made it to the throne room door.

E. Gadd was exhausted from the trek. "Phew...We made it." said while he breathed hard. "I defiantly need to get out a bit more." After regain his breath, he opened the door, which inside was a long room, lined with columns, and at the end, their's a golden throne. On the throne, their was the princess, she is a blue-eyed blond, wearing a long pink dress with arm-length gloves. Her dress has broad shoulders, a ruffled collar, and two dark pink panniers rest on the hoop skirt that accents her slender frame. The bottom of her dress has a dark pink border. she is also wearing a sapphire brooch set in gold. For her jewelry, she wears a crown decorated with rubies and sapphires along with sapphire earrings.

And infront of the throne, about a few feet away were Two men standing before her. One of them is a short, plump man with a red hat with a red "M" on the front, brown hair, black mustache, a red shirt and blue overalls. The other is very similar to the short man in appearance, although he is slimmer and taller. His face is notably thinner and chinless. He also has a smoothed mustache and light blue eyes. He wears unfaded denim jean overalls, brown work shoes, and a green long-sleeve shirt. His Hat is similar to the other guy, being green instead of red and has an "L" on the front.

"My princess." said E. Gadd as he bowed, "This is the one whom Mario has found."

The princess and the 2 men looked at Metal closely, then the princess got up from her throne and walked past the 2 men and towards Metal and .

When the princess got close enough, she then spoke, "Greeting, I am Princess Peach Toadstool, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom."

Peach then pointed to the 2 men behind her, who came up beside her. "You've already met Mario, our kingdom's hero." she said as she motioned the Red cladded plumber to come forward.

"Nice-a to Meet you." said Mario

"And this is his younger brother Luigi." she added when she did the same with the green clothed man.

"Hello." said Luigi shakily.

Metal looked on, thinking what she wants with him. But he lost focus when Peach spoke up. "May I ask what your name is?" she asked politely.

"My name?" Metal asked. "Uhh.." then he remembered what Sonic first said to him, 'That's some sweet fighting there, Metal.'

Then Metal spoke, "My...name is.." but was cut short when an explosion from the ceiling came. Mario and Luigi rushed towards the princess's side, moving her from the fallen rubble while Metal and moved the other way. After the dust cleared, something came through the hole.

It looked like a huge, burly, green-shelled turtle with spikes, horns, and hair. It bushy eyebrows and mane of hair are fittingly a bright, fiery orange. It also has two small horns, and many spikes on it's shell. It has many spiked collars around it's neck and arms. While it's face and it's shell are green, Its underbelly and snout are flesh-colored. His tan lips are extremely bulged, even up to having his nostrils on them. On each of it's hands there are four claws. It's arms are noticeably burly, indicating a vast physical strength. It's bright red eyes are a bit menacing, and this is heightened by it's bushy, scrunched eyebrows. It was also riding in some kind of a helicopter-like vehicle with a large clown face painted on the side.

"Bwahahaha, Did I crash your party princess?" it said with a deep mocking tone.

Peach didn't like the entrance or what the thing said at all. "Bowser, are you hear to kidnap me again, because it's getting old." Said Peach with a pout.

'This is that "Bowser" thing that the professor was talking about?' Thought Metal.

Bowser laughed and said, "What, You think that I'm that stupid to do that?"

Everything was silent after that. Only a cricket was heard.

"That's what you think, but I got a trick up my sleeve, or in this case four!" said Bowser as he snapped his fingers.

Four shapes jumped from behind Bowser, and stood infront of him.

The first is a red, yellow and gray, red-eyed egg-shaped humanoid robot, standing 180 cm.

The second looked like an orange 2 tailed fox-like doll with a metal stalk with a red gem on top of it's head.

The third looked similar to Metal, but was pink instead of blue, had a different 'Hair Style', a red metal dress with thrusters and a large red hammer.

The final one looked like a red, metal teen echidna with the same eyes as Metal and long-snouted, chrome skin muzzle with slightly prominent cheeks and has red dreadlocks. It also has a white crescent mark on the chest. It wears red and yellow shoes with metal soles with an embedded circle at the heel and integrated metal, sextuple-bolted plates and cylindrical green collars on top. The forearms have a three digit hand, and has two spikes on where the pinky and index finger knuckles would be.

Mario, Luigi, and Peach were awestruck at the sight, but Metal was the most shocked as he was quivering slightly, 'Why do they look so...familiar?!' he thought.

Bowser was laughing at everyone's reaction, "I see your speechless at my new friends!" he laughed.

"But I don't blame ya, I was surprised too when they first fell through my roof yesterday." he added.

'That's the same day Mario found his robot.' thought Peach as she looked at Metal. Bowser noticed this, "Hey Princess!" shouted Bowser, "I'm right over here you know!" He then looked over to see Metal for the first time. His jaw dropped as said, "What the..since when did you get that!?"

Bowser then regained his composure, "Well no matter, you all have no idea what my friends can do." he said menacingly. "Ok boys..." But stopped when the pink robot turned to him with glowing red eyes, which frightened Bowser a bit, "Uh..and girl." he added which made the robot turn away, Bowser sighed in relief. "Capture the princess and the Bozo Bros!"

"Acknowledged." said the four in monotone in perfect sequence. Then the two of the four robots split from each other, The Egg robot was after Luigi, and the Pink one was after Mario. The fox doll and the red robot stayed in their position, watching the event about to unfold.

The fight between the egg robot and Luigi started off by the eggbot charging towards Luigi at high speeds. Luigi panicked and started to run. The robot then pulled out some kind of gun and fired off lasers at Luigi, but each shot missed by a half an inch, making Luigi go faster. Then Luigi hid behind one of the pillar, which made the robot stop a few feet from it. It then fired off a few more shots, slowly carving away the stone. Luigi was still behind the pillar, cowering until he got an idea. He brought both his hands together and concentrated. Green electricity started to spark between his to palms. He then jumped out from behind and fired balls of green lightning from his hands, which made the eggbot back off a bit. The robot then resumed it's attack, while Luigi kept on running and firing.

The fight between Mario and the pink robot didn't begin like his brother's. Mario just stood where he stand. The robot raised her hammer, ready to flatten the plumber, but at the last moment, Mario jumped out of the way, just as the hammer made impact. As the robot got her hammer out of the ground and ready to attack again, Mario pulled out his own hammer, which is golden. They both then charged at each other. The robot swung the hammer to Mario's side, but he jumped up to dodge it, then slammed down his own hammer, making contact with the robot's head. Mario grinned a little, thinking he got it, but after a few seconds, he removed his hammer, revealing that the robot didn't receive any kind of damage what so ever. The robot looked up at Mario showing glowing red eyes, then started to swing more wildly. Mario just kept blocking it by hitting it with his own hammer.

The red robot then started to walk towards the princess as if their was nothing' going on. Peach was watching both brother's battles when she looked forward to see the red robot just infront of her. She started to walk back in fear but the robot just got closer. she raised her hand to hit the robot, but it caught her mid slap with it's claws. She then tried again but it caught her again.

"Mario!" she cried, but Mario was to busy with his robot.

"Luigi!" she cried again, but he was also too busy.

"SOMEONE HELLPPP!" Peach cried desperately for someone to help her in her time of need, but nothing. But just when she was about to give up hope, something happened but it was to quick, too quick for the red robot anyway. A blue spinning ball suddenly shot towards the robot and peach, hitting the robot and making it release Peach in the process, the red robot landed a few feet away from the princess. Peach was stunned to see this thing managed to save her. The ball then uncurled itself revealing Metal, standing boldly infront of the princess.

"Are you alright princess?" Metal asked with concern.

The princess nodded, "I am now, thanks to you." she said, "But how did you do that?" she added.

Metal just shrugged and simply said, "I just saw it done by someone else, that's all."

Bowser was stunned to see one of his robots was knocked down.

'How's this possible?!' Bowser thought in surprise, 'That little blue punk managed to take down one of my best guys with one hit, that's just plain crazy!'

Both Mario, Luigi, and the other 2 robots stopped to just see the aftermath of the impact.

Bowser saw this and shouted, "What are you bucket of bolts doing!? Keep fighting!"

The eggbot and the pink robot then ran from their opponents towards the red robot, helping him up.

After the red robot got up, it stared at Metal in the eye for a second or two, then walked towards him and the princess. Metal got into a fighting position, ready for an attack, but it didn't happen. The red robot just stopped ten feet away, and did something that shocked almost everyone in the room, he spoke. "You surprised me that time.", "I'm impressesed that Dr. Eggman managed to create something that could match my power." he added.

Metal just stared at him for a second until he responded. "Who are you and how did you know about the doctor?"

The red robot then held his head with his claw, he then suddenly he jerked his head up high, laughing a maniac's laugh, like Metal's question was a big joke. He then calmed down, realizing that Metal wasn't kidding. "Your not joking are you?" he asked, "You've must've been only recently activated before the explosion."

E. Gadd was listening to the conversation, taking down every word. 'Explosion, what is this automaton talking about?' he thought. then looked at Metal, 'and just who is this Doctor Eggman character?' he asked himself.

"Well for starters.." the red robot started, "Me and my group were made from the doctor way before you came online." The robot then moved his right claw and placed it on it's chest, "I am called "Metal Knuckles"." he started, then motioned to the egg robot,

"That one over there is named "EggRobo." Metal Knuckles said.

Then pointed to the pink one, "The robot with the hammer is called "Android Amy".

Then pointed to the fox doll, who was still standing their infront of Bowser, "And the one who hasn't moved an inch is named "Tails Doll"."

Bowser was getting impatient, "What are you doing you rust buckets, your suppose to take down these fools, remember?!"

Metal Knuckles wasn't too happy with the outburst, "Tails Doll." he started, "Get that overgrown reptile to shut his trap." he ordered.

The one called Tails Doll then finally moved for the first time, he nodded and floated up to Bowser's eye level. Bowser was a bit curious about what it was going to do, but then Tails Doll's eyes started to glow eerily, making Bowser a bit nervous. Then he started to get scared, "I'll shut up now." he said as he covered his mouth.

If Metal Knuckles had an actual mouth, he would grin now. "That's better, now we won't have anymore interruptions from him and your friends." he said as EggRobo and Android Amy grabbed both Mario and Luigi from behind, binding their hands together with some rope.

"Mario, Luigi!" shouted Metal as he tried to run towards them, but was cut off from Metal Knuckles, who pushed him down, "Why do you want to care about these pathetic creatures?" he asked, "They are nothing compared to us."

Metal got up and rubbed the bottom of his metallic nose, "Heh, maybe it's just that I don't like how you make friends." Metal said in a mocking manner.

Metal Knuckles then crossed his arms, "You have the same kind of wit as him, the one that gave the doctor a constant headache."

Metal didn't know exactly what Metal Knuckles was talking about.

"Why don't you come with us?" asked Metal Knuckles, "We could help with all those errors you've been given by these primitives."

Metal then shifted his eyes over to the princess, who was having a hard time with understanding what Metal and Metal Knuckles were talking about, then at Mario and Luigi, the finally back at Metal Knuckles, Metal had cooked up a plan in his CPU.

"Sure, I'll go with ya." Metal said, which caused everyone, except The other robots, to gasp.

Metal Knuckles then let down his arms, extending one claw towards Metal. "Well then, Welcome to the group." said Metal Knuckles.

Metal then remembered this, as Sonic did the same before. Metal reached out, and grabbed the other robot's claw, while Metal's other hand was behind his back, crossing his metal fingers. Peach saw this, realizing Metal's plan.

As both robots were about to let go, Metal then used his other hand and grabbed his arm with both hands, and threw Metal Knuckles towards where EggRobo and Metal Amy were still holding Mario and Luigi. Both robots moved out of the way, letting go of their hostages, making Metal Knuckles fall on his face.

Metal then made his next move, he rushed over to both Mario and Luigi, "Sorry about that." he said as he cut the ropes with his claws, "I need to get him to trust me first."

Mario and Luigi got up, rubbing their wrists from the rope burn.

"Thanks a lot-a." Said Mario.

"Yeah, thanks." said Luigi Weakly.

"No problem." said Metal. But just after he said that, he got tackled from behind, sending him into a wall, leaving an imprint of his face as he fell off.

Metal got up only to see Metal Knuckles standing directly infront of him looking down on Metal.

"I see you capable of trickery like him." Metal Knuckles said. "We'll have to remove it along with any other vapor-ware when we get you back at the castle."

"But first..." he added.

He grabbed Metal by the neck and was about to give him another blow to the head, but didn't get the chance. "Hee...ya!" shouted a voice as a hammer made contact with Metal Knuckle's cheek, shifting his head to the side a little, but just enough to make him let go of Metal.

As Metal drop to the floor, E. Gadd, Luigi, and Peach managed to get Metal to someplace out of the way.

Metal Knuckles shifted his head back in place, seeing Mario with a hammer ready to take another whack at him.

"You are quite the nuisance are you?" asked Metal Knuckles rubbing the impact area, "I'll have to get you out of the way first."

Mario then jumped at the robot with his hammer held high as he was about to land another hit, but Metal Knuckles mealy swatted it out of the way, making Mario lose his grip on the hammer. Mario jumped backwards to get a few feet away from the robot. He then reached into his back pocket and revealed some kind of red flower.

"What are ya gonna do?" Metal Knuckles scoffed, "Win me over with that little weed."

Mario then did something that Metal Knuckles didn't expect, He ate it. Then suddenly Mario's clothes started to change, His hat and shirt turned white while his pants turned red. Then he opened his palm to reveal a baseball sized fireball.

Metal Knuckles didn't think that his opponent had this kind of power, but it didn't scare him the least as fear was not part of his programming.

Mario then thrown the fireball at him with all his force, making the fireball whistle while in the air, But when the ball of flames was about to make impact, Metal Knuckles just swatted it the same way like the hammer.

"He, it'll take a lot more then that to harm me." said Metal Knuckles, but then he got hit with a ball of electricity, giving the robot a little shock. Metal Knuckles turned to see Luigi with both arms pointed outward with palms open, giving of a little smoke. He was also breathing a bit hard.

"Nice try, but I'm more durable then any other robot you may have faced." said Metal Knuckles. Then he shot towards Luigi at intense speeds, sending Luigi flying with a high speed punch.

While the brothers try to fight of Metal Knuckles, E. Gadd and Peach tried there best to get Metal up and running again. "Please reactivate." he said in a plea. "Yes please, the brother's need your help." cried Peach.

Those words rang throughout Metal's processor, then metal remembered the dream, the dream of his mission.

'Their are those who are in need of you, you must help.' in the same voice as the one from the dream.

Metal finally went back online as his eyes started to flash on. was shocked to see Metal back online so quickly.

"You had me worried." said .

"Sorry, guess I needed the rest." said Metal.

"Please, you must help them." Peach said with tears.

Metal got up and moved out of the hiding spot, seeing Mario and Luigi fighting of Metal Knuckles.

Mario and Luigi tried their hardest to beat this powerful foe, but the robot was simply too fast and too powerful for them to handle.

Mario tried to land another fireball attack, but was stopped when Metal Knuckles grabbed on Mario's arm and flung him towards his brother, knocking both of them out.

"And you call yourselves the Heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom?" asked Metal Knuckles in a mocking tone. "Your nothing more than pathetic organics to a being like me."

Metal Knuckles walked towards the 2 fallen brothers and grabbed them by their collars. He then looked at Bowser who was just stunned by the fall of the Mario Bros. "It took you so long to beat these two weaklings?" he asked, "Your more pathetic then I first thought."

"WHAT?!" shouted Bowser, "How dare you call me pathetic, I'll have you and your friends torn to pieces for that!"

Metal Knuckles's eyes glowed even more menacingly then before, "You dare threaten me you fool?" he said quietly.

"Yeah I dare alright." Bowser said, "What are you going to do about it?" Then he realized his biggest mistake, challenging Metal Knuckles' power.

Metal Knuckles used his free hand and aimed it at Bowser and his vehicle, "This." he simply said as his forearm stretched out, punching Bowser so hard, his clown car broke apart and he flew straight to the sky while shouting in confusion, "I'M FLYING, WHEEEEEEEEEE!"

Metal Knuckles then retracted back his arm saying, "That takes care of one annoyance." He then signaled the other three robots.

"All of you, return to base and restrain these so called "heroes"." he ordered.

"Acknowledged." said the rest as two of them have withheld the brothers.

"Not so fast!" shouted a voice.

Metal Knuckles turned to see Metal in his spinning ball aiming towards the group. But they didn't move as Metal Knuckles just raised his arm. When Metal came in contact, Metal Knuckles managed to hold back the attack with ease. After Metal slowed down, Metal Knuckles was just holding him by the head. "Nice try, but you can't use the same trick on me twice." he said as he pushed Metal back on the ground.

"You are just too weak to fight me now." Metal Knuckles said. "Come find me if you want to try again."

He then turned back to his allies, "You all return to the compound immediately."

"Acknowledged." said the other three robots.

Then all four started to hover off the ground and started to fly through the hole in the ceiling. Metal tried to get back up, but he was low on power to try anything to save the brothers. His visuals were fading only to see the four fly off into parts unknown to him, and then their was darkness yet again.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

* * *

Metal's eyes flashed back on, only to see the same black void as before. But this time, something seems a bit off, the voice wasn't there and their was barely any light at all.

"Okay?" he said quietly, "This is weird."

Metal looked all around for any signs of life, but turned up empty. Then in a move of desperation,

"HELLOOOOO!" he shouted, "IS THEIR ANYBODY OUT THERE!?"

"ANYONE AT ALL?!"

"You don't have to shout, I'm right here." said a voice sleepily. Metal turned to see someone he didn't expect, the first living organism he ever met, Sonic the Hedgehog acting like he just got up from a long nap.

"Sonic!" Metal said in surprise, "How did you get here?"

Sonic finally opened his eyes fully to see Metal standing (or to be exact 'floating') a few feet infront of him. "Metal!?" Sonic said in surprise, "What are you doing in my dream!?"

"Your dream?, Don't you mean my dream." Metal said back.

Sonic gave a look of perplextion, "But how can you dream, your a robot arn't you."

Both Sonic and Metal stopped with their outbursts, then Sonic started up again, "How's it possible for you and me to have the same dream?"

Metal shook his head, "I don't really know, maybe it's just like that voice said, I'm different from other robots."

"The voice, what voice are you talking about?" Sonic asked.

Metal then told sonic about his previous dream, the one about his mission (And in great detail I might add).

Sonic tried to absorb all the information he could, but it made his head hurt.

"Ok, I get some of it, like the mission and all, but is their anything else that happened after." sonic asked while rubbing his head, fruitlessly trying to sooth the pain.

"Not really, but then I woke up in what I think is in another world." Metal said with his head down.

Sonic then held his hand on his chin, "Another world huh?" he asked, "That's the same thing that happened to me, only the world I'm in has someone to have fun with, someone who tried to catch me once."

Then Sonic told Metal about his adventure in the new world so far, that include being chased by some guys called the "Speed Team", being saved from drowning by a kid, meeting the kid's family, (and by meeting, I mean his grandfather trying to take him apart, thinking that Sonic was a machine.) and saving 2 of his friends from some kind of military base.

"So what about you." asked Sonic

Metal then told Sonic about his events in the Mushroom Kingdom, like meeting E. Gadd, The Princess, and the Mario Bros. He even added Bowser's intrusion and the appearances of Metal Knuckles, his group and the capture of the Mario Bros.

Sonic kind of looked a bit shocked hearing about Metal Knuckles and his gang. Metal noticed this and asked, "Sonic, is their something wrong?"

"You know Metal Knuckles and his gang?" he added.

Sonic turned to him, "Yeah, we've meet, but that was a long time ago, before you came." "I'm surprised that Eggman didn't turn them into scrap metal."

"Were they as strong as they are now?" asked Metal.

"Well not exactly that strong, but they were a bit tough." said Sonic, "It seemed they learned a few new tricks during the time we're apart."

Metal didn't like what sonic said by that, "Yeah, but just Metal Knuckles alone managed to take down the Mushroom Kingdoms best protectors, nothing managed to even make a dent." Metal said with stress, "And their was nothing I could do, I've tried to stop 'em, but I was too weak, he brushed my attack off so easily."

Sonic put his hands behind his head and laid back, floating in place.

"Well that's your problem, you could use some help." Sonic said, "Heck, I couldn't get Cream and Cheese out of that base if it weren't for my buddy Tails."

Sonic looked over at Metal, seeing him still sulking, even though his face can't exactly show the emotion.

"Metal," Sonic said, making Metal look at him, "What I'm saying is that you can't do it alone, I'm sure their is someone there who would like to help you save your friends like mine did."

If Metal had a real face, he would smile at his friend's advice.

"Thank you Sonic." said Metal.

"Don't mention it." Sonic said back.

But then just as they said their thanks, the world around then started to lighten and both Metal and Sonic started to separate from each other.

"Looks like we're waking up now." Said Sonic with a grin.

Metal's world was getting brighter, losing sight of Sonic, but heard one last thing before he woke up.

'Remember you can't do this alone!'

Metal's eyes flashed on, seeing that he is in 's lab again but it was dark, night had fallen on the Mushroom Kingdom. He sat up, only to see that part of his body covering was off. Then he saw E. Gadd slumped over his table, sleeping over his tools. Then he turned to a chair near the door, Princess Peach was sitting their also asleep. Metal then got his covering back on, and headed for the door. But before he made it, he went over to 's desk, picked up a pen, and wrote down a note on a blank sheet of lab paper.

After he finished, he placed the note on the table and headed out the door, out of sight.

An hour or so later, the sun has peeked up over the mountains, Morning has come to the kingdom. The light from the sun got in a window, where 's lab was. The Light landed on E. Gadd,then he started to wake-up.

The Professor sat up from his desk, giving out a long yawn while stretching his arms. He looked towards the princess, who was also getting up.

"Morning Princess." said.

The princess then turned to E. Gadd.

"Good morning Prof..." said Peach, but was cut off. She then started to giggle a little bit. E. Gadd noticed this, "What's so funny?". Then Peach pointed to a near-by mirror saying, "Look in there."

The professor shrugged his shoulder's and walked towards the mirror, "I don't get what's so fun..." he stopped when he looked into the mirror, seeing his face with a red mark shaped like his Wrench on his cheek.

He then jumped back from the mirror saying, "That's the last time I sleep on my desk!"

Peach then made a small laugh after the sudden outburst, after a minute or 2, they both stopped.

"I might as well get back to...work." said as he turned, but saw the table completely bare. No sign of Metal except a note that was left on the table. Peach approached the table and picked up the note.

/

Dear friends,

Sorry to leave like this, but I need to get stronger to get the brothers back. I know that you had no idea what Metal Knuckles and I were talking about, but I'll tell you that the one called Dr. Eggman was the one who created me, but I don't understand why yet, maybe I will find out when I find them again. Right now I'm looking for some help, seeing if someone would help free the brothers.

your friend,

"Metal"

P.S. That is my name, sorry I didn't get to tell you that earlier.

/

"He left!?" asked E. Gadd, "But we haven't finished the repairs, right Princess?"

looked towards Peach, "Princess?"

Peach didn't pay attention, 'So that's his name' she thought, 'I just hope that he, Mario and Luigi come back alright.'

She then looked out the window, hoping that Metal can really save them.

Even after the sun peeked over the mountains, Metal walked on, through a forest that surrounded the castle. As Metal trekked, a sentence appeared in his eyes saying, "Warning Battery Low".

"No, not now." said Metal quietly.

After a few more steps, parts of his body started to lose power. First his arms, then his legs, which caused his body to fall to the ground. He lifted his head out of the dirt trying to move his limbs, but nothing. Then his eyes started to flicker and were out, he dropped his head on the ground.

Just a few moments after Metal gone offline, the sky darkened. even in the light of the rising sun their was a dark patch in the sky. In it showed the stars, which one of them slowly descended from the sky. After a few seconds it stopped, floating a few inches from Metal's body.

"So your the one huh?" said the star.

"You don't look like much, but you are chosen by her." it said, "Might as well give you a bit of juice."

Then it floated up top and it started to circle, making bits of stardust fall on the metallic body. After a second or 2, Metal's eyes flicked back on, his arms and legs started to move, and the rest of his systems came back online.

He then sat up, with a look of confusion from his eyes.

"What happened?" Metal Asked, "Didn't my battery just died a moment ago?"

"It did." said a voice. "But I gave it an extra jolt."

Metal looked up to see a star floating infront of him. He never saw anything like this before, so naturally like any rational being, he jumped back a few feet away from the star.

"Well that's a fine way to say thanks!" said the star. "I'm surprised that someone like you can get spooked like that."

Metal stood up after his scare spell and looked at the thing before it.

"Who are you?" He asked, "or should I ask, what are you?"

The star was silent for a few seconds, "What, you never seen a Star Sprite before?" it asked.

Metal shook his head as a response.

"Oh..." said the Star Sprite, "Well why didn't you say so?"

Metal got a bit closer to the being. "So... who are you exactly?"

"My name?" it asked, "Well I'm not in the liberty to say, but I've been sent to give you a gift from the Highest Order of the stars."

Metal looked intrigued, 'Highest Order of the stars?' he asked himself, "What kind of gift?"

The star replied, "Well if you want to know, just two words...heads up."

Metal then heard some rustling behind him and just as he was about to turned, something rammed him from behind. He landed back on the ground again, then got himself up to see not one but 2 weird creatures. Both were mushroom shaped creatures with eyes, stubby feet and a mouth with a pair of fangs. The 2 started to growl a little bit. Then a little screen appeared in Metal's eyes.

{22/24 HP}

"What's this?" he asked to himself.

"That's your health meter, it replaced your old battery icon." replied the star, "It tells how much energy you have in your battery. And just like it sounds, your energy is tied to your stamina so the higher the stamina, the more energy you have."

Metal understood so far. But as he got out of thought, one of the creatures charged at him. Metal had just enough time to dodge, but was charged at again by the other creature, which managed to hit him.

{21/24 HP}

"You know.." said the star, "You can't just let them wail you, so attack already would ya?"

Metal then curled up in a ball and spun right at one of the creatures. It flew back a few feet away, then it disappeared in a small firework like explosion with a small pop.

"If your wondering, that's what happens when you defeat an enemy, usually." said the star.

The other creature then stood their with a look of fear, but then it had a devious look as it whistled in high pitch.

Just as Metal was wondering what it was doing, light footsteps came from behind the mushroom creature. when the other thing came into view 3 more mushrooms appeared.

Metal backed up when he saw the 4 to 1 odds.

"Come on ya tin plated mouse!" said the star, "Use a Special!"

"A what!?" Metal asked as he was busy dodging the flying headbutts from the mushrooms.

"You know, a special attack?" asked the star, "Anything that can fight usually has a Special attack, it's a technique that can either cause Major Damage or among other things."

"So, why not try one, if you can." The star added.

Metal then stopped dodging when the monsters stopped also. Then Metal concentrated for an attack, which opened a little menu in Metal's visuals.

(Special Attacks)

Spin Break

'Well, better try it out.' Metal thought, selecting the "Spin Break" attack. Then the thruster on his chest started to rotate, it went faster and faster until it made a sound of a jet engine. Metal then curled up in his ball and was the propelled by the intense power and was flying towards the group of enemies, colliding with them with intense power, which resulted in them scattering in different directions. Metal uncurled and jumped back at his spot and saw that his enemies were defeated.

"Not bad." said the star as it floated beside Metal, "For a beginner."

"What do you mean by that?" ask Metal, being insulted by the remark, "I've been through a few battles and won."

"Except yesterday with Metal Knuckles." said the star, "Yeah, I saw it, especially when you sucker punched him."

"But you can't just hit once and win." it added.

Metal lowered his head in grief, "I know..." he said sadly, "And that's why I need to get stronger, to save the brothers and stop Metal Knuckles from doing who knows what."

"Well that's another reason I came," said the star.

Metal looked up, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I came here to help you in more ways then one." the star replied.

"Really?" asked Metal, "But how?"

The star gave a heavy sigh, "It's simple, I was sent by one of the higher powers to assist you because it's not only the Mario Bros those punks have taken."

"huh?" Metal asked.

"Those tin cans have also taken someone who is as important as the planet needs the sun."

"Who?" asked Metal.

"Would you just stop asking questions and listen!?" shouted the star.

Metal drooped his head, "Sorry...".

The star gave a light sigh again, "It's alright, just don't ask questions until AFTER the story, alright."

Metal nodded lightly and sat quietly while the star began his story.

"It begins something like this." The Star started, "You see, in this vast universe their is always stars that surrounded the planets, so their are people who wish upon those stars and Star Sprites, Like me, deliver those wishes to those who truly deserve them."

"Their are many types of wishes that make this universe, but their are six Major kinds of wishes that are the most important."

"Love, The Strength of Passion

Fortune, The Will of Charity

Knowledge, The Mind For Discovery

Dreams, The Ambitions of Future

Power, The Force to Change

and Hope, The Soul of Faith"

"And each one is represented by six items, the items themselves don't really have a shape except when in view of a special few."

"Um, Excuse me?" Metal interrupted.

The star sighed, "Didn't I say wait until I was done?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but weren't you suppose to talk about who was kidnapped?" Metal asked politely.

"I was about to get to that." Answered the star, "So, can I continue?"

Metal nodded.

"Ok, so where was I?" pondered the Star.

"Aw yes, The items." he added as he cleared his throat, "The six items were under the care of a guardian, someone who knows where the Items are and how to protect them from people who want to use their powers for some stupid reason. And just two days ago, the title was given to the princess of the Order."

"Her name is Lady Iona Galaxia, Daughter of his Highness and previous guardian of the items, Lord Warrpious Galaxia."

Metal eyes brightened a little "So that's who." he said.

"Yeah." The Star said, "And like I said, two days ago, she was captured right after she got the power and the smarts about the Items, and since she didn't know how to use her powers at the time, she was easy pickings."

"I see...I just got one question though." Metal said,

Star replied, "Ok, shoot."

"She is someone who gained the knowledge about the Items."

"Yeah?"

"And she was kidnapped because of it, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So, what would happen if someone like Metal Knuckles and his group got their hands on 'em?"

The star looked dumbstruck, "Well what else?!" exclaimed the Star, "If they get their claws on all them, Who knows what could happen!"

"Oh..." Metal hummed.

"And you are needed to save her!" The Star stated.

Metal was dumbstruck. "But why me, Why was I chosen for this!?" he asked, "I tried to save someone before but I failed and I don't even know why I was built!"

Metal lowered his head.

Metal then spoke solemnly, "So, can't you find someone else who is more useful then a rust bucket like me?"

Metal then felt a quick slap across his left cheek.

"OWW, what's that for!?" Metal shouted as he held his chrome cheek.

"For two reasons.." Started the Star, "One, to knock some sense into ya."

"And two," The Star added, "To teach you something."

Metal had a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Teach me what?" asked Metal as he rubbed his cheek.

The star pointed to Metal's head and said, "You wonder about your existence."

It pointed at where a heart would be, "You feel emotions like sadness."

The star then pointed to the cheek, "You get surprised, you feel pain, heck you even complain." he said in a joking fashion.

"Just about any other robot doesn't have those things." said the Star.

Metal then put down his hand and looked at his metal palm.

"That's why you were chosen." The Star said, "It's because you have a heart."

"No one on this planet except for a special few, has the things you do, now a days people hardly have the will to do anything to make a difference in this world, but you..." the star added while pointing to Metal.

Metal was shocked at this.

"...have what is needed to not only save the girl, but to save everyone." the star finished.

Metal couldn't believe what he's hearing, the guy who make jokes at him single handedly made him not only forget his sorrow, but gave him a new feeling, Hope.

"Thanks." said Metal quietly, "I needed that."

"It's about time!" said the star mockingly, "I didn't want to be stuck with an aluminum foil sad-sack for the rest of the journey!"

Metal looked up at the star with a look in his eyes suggesting mock surprise.

"Is that right!" asked Metal with a small laugh.

They both then laughed for a good minute.

When they both stopped, they both now noticed that the sun was high above.

"Well, we better get moving." said Metal.

"yeah, were burnin' daylight here!" shouted the star.

They both then began to run (or float for the star) through the woods. Metal turned his head towards his new friend, "By the way..You still haven't told me your name!" said Metal.

The star turned to Metal, "Well, if you must know, my friends call me Glimmer." said the star, "So what's yours?"

Metal then gave a look of pride, "The names Metal, Metal the Hedgehog!"

As they ran through the forest, they didn't notice the two sets of eyes watching them.

"You get all that?" said a nasally voice.

"Huh?" said a gruff voice as his eyes made dollar signs.

"Guess so." said the first voice, "So do you think we should we follow them?"

"Huh?" said the second voice, still in his trance.

A sharp slap was heard as the second voice cried out, "Ow! What is it!"

"I said do you think we should follow them?" said the 1st voice.

"What do you think stupid?" said the second voice as he snapped out of his trance.

The two voices then laughed as they went out of sight by the brush.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

* * *

For a while, Metal and Glimmer trekked on through the dense forest and one of them was getting a bit...ornery. "HOW LONG DOES IS THIS PLACE GO ON?!" exclaimed Glimmer.

"We've only been running for 5 minutes, Glimmer." said Metal simply.

"That long!?" exclaimed Glimmer, "We should of been out by now!"

"Yeah, well you just need to be patient." said Metal, "It shouldn't be too far now, I hope."

"Well you better be right." threatened Glimmer, "Or else I'll die from boredom and aching feet."

Metal turned to him.

"Ok, two things." started Metal, "One, no one ever died from boredom, and two you can't have aching feet if you have none."

"Oh.." Glimmer said, "Well, yeah but still..."

And just when Glimmer was about to finish, they stopped at a break in the rows upon rows of trees, out near a clearing.

Glimmer then shot forward and shouted in excitement, "YES, WE MADE IT!"

Metal looked awkwardly at his hyper active companion, "It wasn't all that bad was it?" he asked.

Glimmer turned around, "Yeah, when we were running for hours!" He said.

"Five minutes." Metal said with a sigh, "And you float so you don't need to walk."

"You don't need to be technical about everything you know." Said Glimmer.

Metal then turned away from Glimmer to see a village nearby.

"Hey, There's a village over there." said Metal, "Let's see if anyone there can help us."

"Alright" said Glimmer, "But I'm hoping' that their's something to eat, I haven't had any food since I came down here."

As the duo reached the village's edge, Metal saw that just about everyone was a Toad, but unlike Toadsworth, they were younger with different colored spots on their mushroom caps.

"The Professor was right, There's a lot of them here." said Metal in amusement.

"Well duh, this called the Mushroom Kingdom after all." said Glimmer, "But enough with the sights, I Want Food!" Then Glimmer flew off.

Metal shrugged his shoulders, "Might as well look around for a bit." he said as he started his trek through town.

As Metal walked through the town, taking in the sights, he saw that a few of the residents were staring at him, "Guess they never seen a metal hedgehog before." Metal thought. After about a few yards, he came across a restraunt with the sign,

( TOAD TOWN BAR-B-Q )

Ya Want'em Hot?

We Got'em Hot!

Metal was curious, "This looks interesting." Thought Metal. He was then about to walked inside of said restraunt, When...

"EVERYONE OUT!"

A large group of toads ran out of the building screaming. Metal had moved just in time from being trampled on. Metal looked at the entrance, then back at the crowd of frightened Toads.

"What's going on in there?" he asked a Toad.

"It's the Koopa Troop, their raising all kinds of chaos in there." The Toad stuttered.

"The Koopa Troop?" asked Metal.

The toad looked at him funny, like he was stupid, "You never heard of the Koopa Troop?, Their the personal army of Bowser, The feared king of koopas."

Metal raised his non-existent brow, "Really..." he said quietly. Then he started to walk towards the building. A few of the Toads saw this and tried to make him go the other way in whisper, but they went unheard. When Metal made it to the entrance, he peered in the door to see 3 humanoid turtles with red shells and sunglasses. Their was another new creature in the room, it looks like a brown 3 segmented top with eyes ontop of a pad that looks like cheese, wearing a round hat that looks like a hamburger bun. The turtle was holding the top thing by the tip, making it dangle a little.

"You gonna take back what ya said?" asked one of the turtles mockingly.

The top thing wiggled a little, trying to get free, but then it spoke up,

"I'd rather broil myself then talk to a bunch of Bowser bullies!" He said, in a voice of a young boy.

Then one of the turtles smirked and said, "That can be arranged, To the kitchen boys."

The 3 carried the top to the kitchen and out of sight.

'This can't be good,' thought Metal, 'I have to help him, but...'

He then recalled the capture of Mario and his brother, how he was helpless at the time.

Metal shook his head fiercely, 'No, I will not fail this time.' he thought as he ran after them.

Glimmer was around trying to find some goodies, but he felt his stomach grumble.

"I'm starving." moaned Glimmer, "Where's a Star Sprite suppose to find some descent grub around here?"

But then he noticed a large crowd of Toads around the entrance of the Restaurant where Metal got in.

Glimmer then floated to one of the Toads, "Excuse Me?" he asked, "What's happening in there."

A toad turned and said, "There's three Koopas from the Koopa Troop in there, and some metal mouse guy ran in there after them."

'A metal mouse guy?' thought Glimmer, 'That idiot!'

Metal made it to the kitchen door, he then opened it slightly and didn't like what he saw. In the very large kitchen, one of the turtles held the top thing over a large boiling pot of oil.

"This is your last chance to save yourself." said the 1st turtle, "Just say 'I'm Sorry' and we could let you go."

The top huffed and turned away from the turtle.

"Have it your way them." Said the 1st turtle as he was about to signal the big drop, but then...

*SLAM!*

The door slammed open and Metal slid into view.

The three koopas and the top looked surprised at the newcomer, the first turtle snapped out of it.

"And just who are you?" asked the turtle.

Metal crossed his arms, "Just someone passing by." he said as he rubbed his finger on the bottom of his nose, "And someone who wants you to let the little guy go without any problems."

The three did nothing for a second, then they chuckled a bit and finally laughed outloud. Metal just stood their as the laughed their lungs out. When the three stopped, the first turtle spoke first.

"And if we don't?" he asked smugly.

Metal uncrossed his arms and shot forward at the one holding the top kid. The turtle didn't see it coming as Metal curled into a ball and shot into the turtle's gut, both the turtle and the top fell on the floor. The turtle was knocked out but the top got up in astonishment.

Metal uncurled, "That." he said simply.

He then turned to the young top, "Are you ok?" he asked.

The top nodded, "Yep, thanks to you bud!"

Metal's eyes gave a look of satisfaction, "That's good." he said, "You better get out of here, This could get rough."

The top nodded again and his lower section spun him out of the kitchen.

The last two were busy gawking at what just happened, but the first turtle shook his head and looked at Metal, shooting figurative daggers at him. "Yer just askin' for it!" he shouted as he and the other turtle got into a fighting stance, "Prepare fer a Koopa Troopa Butt whoopin'!"

Metal looked back at the koopas, and just said 3 words to start the inevitable fight, "Bring...It...On."

The two koopas attacked first as they retracted into their shells and shot towards Metal, but Metal jumped over them. They made a sharp left turnaround and charged into Metal's back, sending him to the other side of the room on the floor. He got back up quick and then jumped, he barely dodged another assault. Metal then curled up and dashed at the turtles, but they split up making Metal bounce off the wall. Metal bounced around the room like a pinball, which caused him to collide into one of the koopas. Then one of the shells got behind him and shot into Metal's back, and he fell to the floor again.

The koopas protracted their heads and limbs out of their shells and stood 4 ft away from the fallen hero, with their arms at their sides.

"Is that all you got?" asked the turtle smugly, "Guess your not as tough as you say."

But then Metal got on his hands and knees and jumped into the air, twisted his body, and landed right infront of the koopa that was standing next to the leader. He then made an uppercut to the koopa's chin, sending him backwards into the wall. The impact managed to knock off the turtle's shell with a bare koopa wearing boxers knocked out on the floor.

What everyone in the kitchen didn't know, was that the top boy, who was suppose to get away, was standing just outside the door, watching the battle unfold.

'This dude's real good.' thought the top, 'Maybe, just maybe...'

Metal turned his head towards the last standing koopa, who was shuddering from what just happened.

"We could've done this peacefully." Metal said with a sigh, then he placed his metallic hand on the koopa's shoulder, "You can just walk away from this, if you promise not to come here or anywhere else in town ever again."

The koopa was stunned but then had a very angry look on his face and slapped Metal's hand off of him.

"You think I'd make that kind of promise?!" He asked angrily, Then he jumped back a few feet. "We're from the Koopa Troop, We don't know the meaning of giving up!"

He then pulled out some kind of red mushroom with white spots that has a pair of black eyes.

Metal tilted his head in confusion.

The koopa chuckled, "I guess you never seen a Super Mushroom before have ya?"

"You gotta be careful dude!" said a young voice.

Metal turned to see the top kid infront of the door he was hiding

"The Super Mushroom can make just about anyone really big when eaten." said the top.

Metal was stunned, he thought that the kid was far away by now. But now wasn't the time for questions, he then turned back towards the koopa.

"The little squirts right." he said, "Once I eat it, I'll be twice as powerful!"

Then he tossed it up into the air and it fell down into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Nothing happened for a few seconds but then, his body started to grow until his head just touched the ceiling. He then laughed out loud, which was amplified from his size.

"Now your gonna wish you never assaulted the Koopa Troop!" the koopa said, "For I will crush ya with the new and improved, Macho Koopa!"

The Macho Koopa then crossed his arms, "Come on." he taunted, "You can have the first move."

Metal didn't have a second though as he curled up and shot right at Macho Koopa's gut, but when he hit the shell, he was thrown to the ground. 'What just happened?' he asked himself, 'I know I hit him but..'

"My turn!" said Macho Koopa as he rushed over to Metal, grabbed him by the head, and slammed him to the ground hard. The Macho Koopa done this three to four times in a row and then finally tossed him to the ground. Metal got up slowly onto his feet, aching in artificial pain. He looked like he was breathing heavily and about to collapse. The top kid was in emotional turmoil.

'Oh man.' thought the top, "He's getting pummeled, unless I do something, but what?!'

The top then turned to a door with a sign that said "Pantry" over it, lightning had just stricken his brain there and then.

Metal tried as he could to take down the behemoth called Macho Koopa, but his attacks couldn't get through Macho Koopa's shell. The giant then back handed Metal across the head, sending him back into the wall and then slid down sitting on the floor.

Macho Koopa then started to crack his knuckles, ready for the final blow.

"Time to take out the trash." he said, then he charged straight at the struggling Metal to end their conflict, something happened that surprised everyone.

Macho Koopa was forced back as something small and fast slammed into the behemoth's gut. It bounced away and landed next to Metal. It was the top kid, but he had some kind of flower ontop of his head. The top turned to him, "Sorry about the delay, I just needed to get something first." he said as the flower slid off his head and landed into Metal's hand. Metal stared at the plant for a good minute, then he stood up and looked at the top.

"That's a Fire Flower." the top said, "Just eat it and it'll do the rest."

"But..." Metal said, "I can't..." but couldn't finish as the flower then bursted into flames, which spooked everyone else in the room. Then the flames grew and surrounded him in a wall of flames. The top kid did not expect this at all.

"It never happened like this before.' he thought, "What's so different about him?'

He was about to get his answer as the flames receded, revealing a new and improved Metal. His blue hull was now white with the forearms, hands, shins, and feet are red. His eyes look liked they were blazing embers on a black moonless night. Metal looked at his new form and then noticed a new power had surged through his circuits, and it felt like all the pain had melted away.

'What is this feeling, It feels...warm.' Metal thought, 'I like it!'

The top then spoke up in astonishment, "How do ya feel?" he asked.

Metal turned his head to him with a look of pride in his eyes, "Like I can win." he said as he got back into his fighting stance.

"Hahahahaha, It'll take more then a few fireworks and a new paint job to stop me!" said Macho Koopa, "You still can't break my shell, you have no chance!"

The top then gave out a loud laugh, "Don't you know what a Fire Flower does?" he asked, "He's now gonna make a Koopa cuisine out of ya!"

Metal was about to ask what he meant, but then the Special Attack menu opened in his eyes.

(Special Attacks)

Spin Break

Fireball

'A new attack?' metal thought.

'Well, I hope it's better then the first one.' Metal thought as he selected the "Fireball" option. Then he felt a warm sensation running down his arm and into his right hand. He raised his hand a little, palm up, and saw that a little flame was forming. The flame turned into a sphere and started to grow until it reached baseball size.

Macho Koopa then realized that it was the same kind of power Mario used to defeat his leader time after time. 'But he still can't past my shell.' he thought with a small smirk. But the smirk was soon to be wiped off his face, as Metal then rushed him, but Macho Koopa retracted back into his shell. Metal was infront of a hole and threw the fireball he was holding into the hole. It took a few seconds, but then the giant koopa leaped out of his shell yelling while his boxer shorts were on fire.

Metal then had an idea, he went behind the giant shell and kicked it hard. The shell ricochet all around the room, and hitting the other two shells in the room and all three shells slammed into the crispy turtle. This blow knocked the koopa to the floor and somehow extinguished the flames.

The so-called Macho Koopa and his shell then shrunk back to regular size. The koopa then fell face-first on the floor.

Metal then crosses his arms with his index finger pointing out while making a teasing clicking tune, "You could of just leave." he said. But then his colors had changed back, which confused him for a bit. He then turned to the top kid.

"What just happened?" he asked

"My guess is that the effects are temporary for you." said the top, "But who cares, You won!"

"Yeah..." Metal started, but then he collapsed on the floor. The top jumped back a little, "Dude!" he shouted, "You alright!?" but no immediate response from Metal. But then he heard a barely audible snore.

The top was relieved, "Your one weird guy, ya know?" he asked. The top didn't noticed but inside, Metal had a happy look in his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

* * *

All Metal felt was the drowsy sleep that encompassed his body as he started to dream. But not about Sonic, but something else. Metal flashes his virtual eyes to see a peaceful meadow full of many flowers.

"What is all this?" Metal asked himself, scanning over the scenery like a young boy who had just found heaven. He suddenly hears some rustling behind him, so he turns around slowly to see something that can only be described in three words, Cute and Adorable.

It looked like another anthromorphic animal like Sonic, but this time it's a smaller female rabbit with buff fur with orange marking around it's chestnut brown eyes, head and long floppy ears. She was wearing a vermilion dress with a white v-collar and a blue tie. Metal couldn't see the lower portion because the flowers were up to her waist.

Beside her was some blue creature who was also kinda cute, with it's body that makes you think raindrops, dark blue eyes, a pair of butterfly-like wings and a floating yellow pom pom ball hovering atop it's head.

Metal saw that the two were staring at him in what looked like fear and awe. "Hello." Metal said, waving a little, which caused them to flinch a little.

After a minute of silence, the rabbit finally spoke up, "Who are you?" She said, with a young voice that seems to be both curious and slightly afraid.

Metal crouched down to her eye level, "I'm Metal." He said, "Metal the Hedgehog, and who are you?"

The rabbit girl seemed to soften up abit, seeing that he wasn't some kind of threat, "My names Cream." She said with a polite lady-like bow, then she motioned towards the blue creature, "And this is my very special friend Cheese."

"Chao Chao Chao!" Cheese squeaked happily. Metal couldn't help but laugh alittle at the blue thing, "Nice to meet the two of you." He said, But then he looked around at the scenery again, "So where are we? Is this a dream?"

Cream looked at him funny, "Well this is my dream, But I never really heard about.." But then she realized something, "Of course, your that robot friend Sonic was telling us about!"

Metal was taken back from this, "Sonic really told about me?" He asked in surprise.

Cream and Cheese nodded simultaneously, "Yes, He said that you were traveling through a place called the Mushroom Kingdom, and trying to save it's protectors right?"

Metal nodded, "Yep, but now I'm trying to get some help, as some really bad guys are abit to powerful to fight by myself." After he said that, he lowered his head slightly

Cream smiled at this, "It's always good to have someone be there when you need help." She said, then Cheese floated beside her and she hugged it, "Cheese was always there when I needed him most. I hope that someone will be there for you to."

Metal raised his head, just hearing those words coming out of someone so innocent just made his soul of silicon flutter.

"Thank you." He said graciously, "Both of you."

Cream & Cheese just smiled, "Sonic is right." Cream said, "You really are nicer then before."

Metal cocked his head to the side, "Before?" He asked, "This is the first time we met...right?"

Cream was about to answer but the world started to fade into white. Metal stood up, looking around franticly. "I'm sorry Mr. Metal." He heard Cream say, so he turned to see both Cream & Cheese fade away too "We have to wake up, so until we meet again." Cream smiled as she faded into the whiteness.

"Wait!" Metal shouted trying to reach out to her, "What about.."

But then the white faded into darkness and then nothing.

* * *

"Power fully charged 100%" flashed an icon in Metal's Visuals

Metal's visuals then turned on again, only to find himself on a soft bed. He sat up and saw a desk with a mirror and a small stack of books infront, a closet made of bamboo on the left, and a door on the right. Metal then noticed that everything in the room has something to do with fire and parts of the walls have posters, one with a toad, one with a koopa, and other kinds of creatures, all wearing some kind of exotic chef's outfit working on some kind of flat grill with spatulas, forks and other utensils.

"Someone must really like fire." Metal muttered to himself. He got out of bed and started to walk towards the desk and looked through the stack of books.

'Hibachi made Easy'

'The Heart of Hibachi'

'How to be a Hibachi Chef'

"Hibachi?" Metal asked himself. He was about to open "The Heart of Hibachi", when the door opened.

"Hey!" said a young familiar voice, then a brown flash swept infront of Metal's face, snatching the book he was holding. He turned to see the top kid, somehow holding the book ontop of his head

"No one touches my stuff 'cept me!" he shouted, He then realized who he was talking to as his eyes made a look of regret.

"Oh, sorry about that." He said as he slid the book back on the desk, "I just don't like people touching my stuff."

"I guess everyone is protective of something." Metal said, he turned his head back to the book that the top set back down. "You really like those books don't you?" he asked.

The top's eyes widened a little, "Yep!" he said in joy, "I'm reading up to be a world-class Hibachi Chef when I grow up!"

Metal raised his non-existent brow again, "Just what is 'Hibachi'?"

The top's eyes widened in surprise, "What is Hibachi!?" he exclaimed, "It's only the most exciting form of cooking their is!"

"What kind of person doesn't know Hibachi?" he finished.

"A someone who is from another world." Metal answered simply.

The top dropped his proverbial jaw, but then he laughed and said, "That's a good one, I thought for a second there you said your from another world!"

"I did." Metal said innocently.

Metal then explained what had happened so far, from him entering the Mushroom Kingdom to Bowser's Intrusion up to the part of entering Toad Town, "...and you know the rest." Metal finished.

After Metal finished, the Top had a look of amazement in his eyes. "So you are sent here from another world." he said

"Yes." said Metal.

"A voice told you that their are some people need your help."

"Yes."

"And you need help in saving the Mario brothers and this Princess from this Metal Knuckles guy, right?"

"That's about it in a nutshell." Metal answered.

Just after he said that, the door opened again only to see Glimmer coming into the door.

"Glad to see ya alright, ya crazy hedgehog." Glimmer said in his usual mocking tone.

"Glimmer?" Metal asked surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"And where is here?" he added.

Glimmer then made a chuckle as he pointed his star stub, "That kid there got brought ya here after you fell asleep of course."

Metal turned to the top again seeing a happy face.

"Apparently, his house is just a block away so I followed ya both." Glimmer added.

Metal then remembered the battle with the Super Koopa. He snapped his head up, "But what about the Koopa Troop." he asked.

Glimmer chuckled, "Don't worry, the Queen's royal guards managed to lock them up, but you really should thank the little guy for helpin' ya."

Metal turned to the top, walked infront of him and crouched down to the kid's height.

"I appreciate the help," Metal said, "But you didn't have to do that, you know."

The top then made a look of shock, "Of course I have to!" he said, "You saved my bee-hind back there and I thought I could help ya in return."

"But still, Thanks for your help...eh." Metal said but couldn't finish just yet, "What you say your name was?"

The top then made an embarrassed look, "Oh right." He said, "I forgot to introduce myself."

Then the Top jumped back a few feet to his closet and somehow hit a hidden button on the floor. The closet door opened and alot of steamers and confetti started to fly out and inside their is a kid's drawing of the top wearing the same kind of clothes as the ones on his posters and fire surrounding him.

"I am known as the Great Hamburger!" he said dynamically as he made some different poses, "Hammy for short."

"Self proclaimed Hibachi Chef in Training!".

"And soon to be the world famous "Iron Hibachi Master!", which I just made up." he added as he made another dramatic pose.

Everything was still and silent for a minute, but then a small chuckle was heard, then...

"Hahahahaha!" Glimmer laughed.

Hamburger then made a dirty look at the mocking star, "What's so dang funny?!" he shouted.

Glimmer calmed down a bit, "Sorry, it's just that who ever heard of a Spinia as a chef?"

Metal turned towards Glimmer, "A Spinia?"

Glimmer looked back, "Well, that's what this guy is."

"Oh..." Metal said, "But what's so funny about him being this "Hibachi Chef" anyway?"

Glimmer just chuckled again, "Ain't it obvious?" he asked, "He has no arms!"

Metal turned to Hamburger, who looked dishearten.

"Well I see your point, but..." Metal said.

Metal walked towards the sad top and placed his hand on top of Hamburger's head, "That doesn't mean that can't be done." he added, "Am I right?"

Hamburger looked up at Metal with a look of rekindled hope and then...

"YOUR RIGHT!" Hamburger shouted, as he slipped away from Metal's hand, and bouncing around the room like a rubber ball thrown by a gorilla. He then stopped back to his display.

"I'll show this world that I can cook!" Hamburger Said. "Even if I can't grab a spatula!"

"Yeah." Glimmer said, "But I doubt you could even make a ham sandwich." but was then slapped lightly in the back of the head by Metal.

"What was that for!?" He exclaimed.

"You don't have to be so mean, ya know." Metal answered.

"What?" Glimmer asked, "Can't a Star Sprite be honest about these things?"

"Not if it makes someone upset." Metal said.

Glimmer then turned away for a bit, "I was just being truthful that's all." he mumbled.

"That's ok!" Shouted Hamburger.

Metal turned to the Spinia, who still had a happy expression. Metal once again raised his figurative eyebrow.

"You sure?" asked Metal, "That was pretty mean of Glimmer to say that."

"Seriously, I'm alright with it!" said Hamburger, "I get that all the time, so I'm pretty much use to it by now."

Metal just stared at the young top a little while.

"Well if you say so..." Metal trailed off, 'but why do I feel like he's in real pain right now?"

"So how are you gonna go and save the brothers and all that jazz?" Hamburger asked, changing the subject.

Metal then snapped back out of thought, "Huh?" he asked surprised.

"I said 'how are you gonna save the brothers'?" Hamburger repeated in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, Right." Metal replied, "I guess I should first look around for someone who'd want to help."

Metal then placed his hand under his chin, "But where to look..."

It was silent for a few seconds when...

"How about me?!" asked Hamburger.

Metal turned to the top again in surprise, "What?!" he exclaimed.

Hamburger just jumped up and down in the air, "I said can I join you two?!" he shouted, "I can be of great help ya know?"

"I mean I could dish out alot of power for a guy my size!" he added.

Metal just lowered down to Hamburger's height again, "It's nice that you want to help." said Metal, "But I think it could be too dangerous for someone like you."

Hamburger had the shocked expression again, "To dangerous!?" he shouted, "Didn't you see me knock that wind bag of a koopa down!?"

"I think I am more then qualified to fight along side ya two." he ended.

Glimmer then floated next to Metal as he rose back up in thought again.

"Kid," Glimmer said, "We don't need some hyperactive little toy to be with us."

"And besides, don't you have a job at that restaurant?" he added.

Hamburger then looked down a little, then rose his head back up, "I did, but the incident with the Koopa Troop made the boss...alittle unhappy."

Glimmer then replied, "Alittle?"

Hammy just looked down abit, "Well..."

(-Flashback-)

Outside of the Toad Town BAR-B-Q, you could hear some pans being clashed around and yelling could be heard. Suddenly Hammy flew out of the doors heard in a very harsh voice saying, "AND STAY OUT!"

(-End Flashback-)

"He's pretty upset that the place got trashed." Hammy said solemnly but shifted to a happy look, "But He'll get over it...I hope."

That last part was too quiet to be heard by Glimmer, but Metal managed to hear it. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the little guy. So he placed his hand ontop of the kids head, "You can come if you want to." He said nicely.

This managed to give Hammy back his positive attitude, As he started to leap in joy, but not like last time. "Thanks Metal!" He said excitedly, "I won't let you down!"

Metal's eyes showed that he was happy, "Now that that's been taken cared of there's one thing that I'm still wondering about." He said standing back up.

"And what's that?" Glimmer said.

Metal looked towards Glimmer, "If we're going to look for the princess and the brothers." He said "How are we suppose to find them?"

After about a moment of silence, Glimmer facepalmed. "I forgot to mention that didn't I?" he grumbled, but he lowered his stub.

"Well, we stars can detect the presence of the princess." He said frankly, "But I haven't really felt any...WOAH!"

Metal and Hammy jumped back at the sudden outburst, "What!" they both said Simultaneously.

"I gotta fix on her!" Glimmer said quickly, He then started to point towards his left, "She's that way!"

Hammy just raised a brow, "Are you sure?" He asked cautiously.

Glimmer then buzzed right infront of his face, "Why would I kid about this!" He exclaimed, "This is the guardian of six very powerful artifacts and the daughter of Lord Galaxia we're talking about!"

"If those robots manage to force the locations out of her, The whole galaxy would suffer!" he finished, zooming out of the room shouting, "Lets get going!"

The 2 were stunned by the scene, but then shook themselves and started to chase after the crazed star with Metal shouting, "Wait for us!"

;-

And so they went out of the house and on their way to who knows where, but they didn't know that they were followed by two shadows, 1 tall and skinny, the other short and fat.

("I'm not Fat and I'm not Short! I'm Stout and Muscular")

OK OK sorry, I meant stout and Muscular shadow.

("Thank you.")

The Short..er Stout shadow looked back at the tall one, "Well it's about time!" He said, "I was gettin' bored!"

The stout one was rubbing his hands together, "I can't even imaging how much moolah I'm gonna get when we get those."

"Is that all you can think about?" the tall shadow said, "Money?"

"Well, what else is there?" said the stout one.

They both then again followed the group of three once again.

Metal and Hammy's chase lead them through out Toad Town, Causing some chaos to the Inhabitants.

"Make way!" Glimmer shouted racing through out the town making the other toads move from the way, not wanting to be slammed by the crazed star and the metal hedgehog and Spinia trailing behind.

"Sorry!" Metal shouts along with, "Excuse Me!"

"Hedgehog and Spinia comin through!" Hammy shouted, "Clear a path people!"

The trio finally made it out of town, but Glimmer was still bent on following the signal he got from the Princess. This led him to another forest like the one that he and Metal exited from earlier, this caused Hammy to stop short of the entrance.

Metal noticed this looking back to see the top shiver violently, "What's wrong?' Metal asks curiously, "Why are you shivering?"

Hammy didn't respond for a few moments when he finally spoke up, "It's just that.." Hammy said shakily, pausing for a moment, "Recently everyone in town keeps hearing noises in there."

"Noises?" Metal asked, "What kind?"

"Like machines working on something." Hammy answered, "But before that there were explosions and (Gulp) screaming."

"Screaming?" Metal asked.

He shivered at this, "Yeah, it gives me chills just thinking about it."

Metal looked at his friend, then to the forest, then back to Hammy. "I know you don't want to go in there." Metal said, "But Glimmer is in there and we can't just leave him alone."

"Besides, The brothers and the princess could be in there as well. But I will understand if you want to stay here, it's your choice."

Hammy just stood there, looking down at the ground. Then he shook his head as he looked back up to Metal, "No!" He said loudly, "I said that I'll help, and I mean it!"

Then he sped to the entrance, but he stopped for a bit as he looked back to Metal and said, "Come on Metal! We've got a star to chase!" And he went in, not showing the fear he had before. Metal quickly followed behind not wanting to lose Hammy too.

As Metal ran down the beaten path, he looked around to view the wilderness. To him, this place is alot different from the one he was previously in. It had more of a mystical feel to it, like you could feel the life's blood of it all just by looks alone.

What Metal doesn't know is that while he was looking on, he ran into someone very familiar with, tripping over and sending him face first to the ground.

"Metal!" he heard Hammy's voice, "Look where your going!"

He stood back up, looking back to see Hammy, who was alittle steamed for being tripped on.

Metal looked down in shame, "I'm sorry." He said his apology, "It's just something about this place feels...magical is all."

"No, I'm sorry." Hammy said, "You were just curious is all. People always get this strange feeling, like a spell in the air. No one knows why."

Suddenly a sharp crack was heard, causing birds to fly quickly and the duo to look around franticly.

"What was that?" Hammy asked quietly.

"...Something...is coming." Metal said quietly as he balled his fists, ready to fight with whatever approaches.

There was a moment of silence, with nothing but the wind swaying through the branches. Hammy heard something like a quiet whistle coming from above. What he saw caused him to look terrified.

"METAL, LOOK OUT!" Hammy shouted as he tackled Metal away and just in time. Something huge fell from the sky, causing it to slam into the ground. Metal and Hammy got back up and looked back at what almost made them part of the ground.

It looked like a giant cinderblock, five times the size of Metal, with blunt squared off spikes surrounding it. It had a very angry face, with it's eyes glaring at the duo that it just missed.

"What the.." Hammy spoke, "A Thwomp?!"

Metal and Hammy heard another whistle as he looked up to see another of the stones falling at them, so the both started to run away. But as they ran, more and more of the stone heads slammed after them, inches away from the two.

"What are these things!?" Metal shouted out.

"They're called Thwomps!" Hammy answered, "Living rocks that slam down on anyone that gets under them! But this is wrong!"

"Why's that?!" Metal asked loudly.

"These guys only live in Dungeons or the Thwomp Volcano!" Hammy shouts his answer, "But neither one is even close to here!"

They ran as the rain of Thwomps slammed closer and closer to the duo, suddenly Hammy had an idea.

"Metal!" Hammy shouted out, "You have a jet engine in your chest! Use it!"

"What are you.." Metal started, but mentally smacked himself as he looked down on his body, "Oh DUH!"

Metal concentrated on activating his engine, but I wouldn't start. In his head Metal repeated the words 'Come on!' over and over until he felt the turbine start to turn on. It then started to spin faster and faster, making it roar louder and louder.

Metal suddenly grabbed Hammy, holding him under his armpit tightly. "Hold on!" Metal shouts.

"With what?!" Hammy shouted back, but then both shot off flying so fast that Metal's feet weren't even touching the ground. The sudden burst of speed almost made Hammy made his stomach queasy, but he had to hold it in as he looked back to see the Thwomps just barely visible.

"Ah HA!" Hammy shouted happily, "You did it dude! We shook off those rock heads! Nothin' can stop us now!"

Suddenly, spluttering could be heard as black smoke came out of the exhaust port of the engine. Before either one knew what happened it shuts off completely.

"I shouldn't of said that, Idiot!" Hammy muttered to himself as they both then hit the ground, causing Metal to let go and both of them to roll rapidly on the ground.

After about a few seconds of rolling, they then skidded on their faces to a halt. Hammy was out cold, but Metal's senses were still online. He barely lifted his head as he saw three pairs of bare feet walking close to him cautiously, two pairs looked almost humanlike while the middle pair looked like the feet of a Toad.

He felt small light pokes on his head from what he thinks is a spear as he then heard some kind language coming from the two of them, but all it sounded like was garbled gibberish.

"No." He heard a female voice, "The elder would probably want to see this...metal creature. Bring it and the top with us."

And that's when Metal finally shut down as he felt something dragging him by the arm.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

* * *

Metal flashed his eyes on to see that he was somehow standing in an empty street with fog rolling around his feet. He looked around to see a huge, grey city, with a cloudy sky hanging overhead. Everything in it was completely empty, no cars, no people, not even the sounds of birds chirping.

"Where is this?" He asked himself searching around more for any being.

"Hello?" He said, "Hammy? Glimmer? Where are you guys?!"

Then suddenly a small breeze blew from behind him, carrying away the fog. He then started to hear footsteps coming from behind, So he looked to see someone standing a few feet away.

Whoever it was, it looked human with a long red coat, a pair of black jeans, a pair of black and white sneakers, and gloves with small metallic studs on the knuckles. It was also wearing a helmet that looks like it was made of red overlapping plates that made it look like a hood, shrouding the face underneath.

Metal looked on curiously but with also a tinge of fear. This didn't stop him from calling out to it.

"Who are you?" He asked, "And what is this place?"

The figure in red just stood there, with nothing but the wind to make sound. The figure then moved it's right hand forward with it palm facing towards Metal. Then some kind of energy started to appear into it's hand, growing from a marble size to the size of a softball. The energy looked like a chaotic mix of black and white without the gray, it appearance seems to have made something of a mirage from the air surrounding it.

The ball of energy then shot from his hand, speeding straight for Metal. At the moment before reaching it's target, Metal jumped to the left to make the sphere hit the ground leaving a small crater.

Metal looked back at the figure shouting out, "Why did you do.."

But he was immediately cut off as to see the man in red right infront of him with his right fist chambered to the side, ready to strike Metal in the face. Metal then jumped back a few feet to almost miss the punch, as it grazed the side of his left cheek.

Metal then used his hand to feel the grazed area, only to feel that the graze was more of a shallow cut. He looked to see the figure's hands were now two red sharp blades that looked like were fused with the sleeves themselves.

'I have to be more careful now.' Metal thought, 'Or this...thing is going to turn me to scrap!'

After about a fraction of a second, the figure lunged towards him with both blades at the ready. When it was at striking range, it thrusted a right hook that could probably slice off the top half of Metal's head, but luckily Metal ducked in time for it to swing helplessly overhead. After that swing, the figure in red then went for a left uppercut but Metal sidestepped away, which made the figure shot up it's right knee into Metal's chin.

This lifted Metal into the air by about four feet, but before he could hit the ground the figure suddenly turned sideways and thrusted a kick from the same leg from the side into Metal's chest.

Metal flew through the air for more than twenty feet down the street before sliding onto the ground on his back. His body was aching, but not as much as the fight with Macho Koopa. He lifted his head up slowly, ignoring the sharp pain from his chin when he saw the figure standing back there just as he lowered his leg.

Metal got back to his feet slowly, his chest ached, but not enough to keep Metal on the ground. He looked on as the figure started to walk slowly towards him. Not wanting to get bashed around again, Metal turned around and ran.

'There has to be something I could do." Metal thought franticly, 'But what?!'

Suddenly he felt something tug from inside his mind, motioning towards a nearby alleyway. So he made a sharp right turn into the alley, hoping to find whatever that sensation is pointing to, but all he could see was a few trashcans, a huge dumpster and a steel linked fence at the end.

'What could it be?' He thought, but then he spotted a red glow coming from the other side of the dumpster. He followed it to find something that could turn the tables in his favor.

The figure walked down the street slowly, moving it's head left and right to find any trace of the robotic hedgehog. Suddenly a huge flash of red erupted quickly from the alley that Metal was hiding in. So the figure ran over to the entrance to find no signs of the flash anywhere, but it walked in cautiously.

It slowly looked over everything, but no signs of blue metal or a red light.

A crash was heard from behind, so he sharply looked back, only to see a trashcan had fallen on it side. That when he saw a reddish glow on walls, It knew that something was behind him. When he looked back, all it saw was a fireball hitting him square in the chest.

This caused it to fly out of the alley, across the street and busted into the doorway of a building.

The figure stumbled out of the doorway and looked to the alleyway to see his target.

Metal walked out of the alley, with his white and red colors and a fireball in his right hand, tossing it up and down.

"You know..." He said, "You burn me up!"

With that said, Metal gripped his fireball tightly and he thrown it with all his might, causing it to scream like a firework towards it's intended target.

Unfortunately, the figure reacted quickly by shooting another energy ball like back at the beginning of the fight. The two spheres collided resulting in a large explosion of flames, energy and smoke which enveloped the area.

This made the figure used it's left arm to shield it's eyes from the smoke, He only lowered his arm to see another red glow and hear the sounds of a jet engine. In a split second, Metal shot out of the smoke balled up using his Spin Break attack, which then connected to the figure's chest.

This sent both of them through the building the figure was infront of, and into the building behind that, then finally onto the next street. The figure rolled over sloppily until it stopped face down on the pavement. Metal on the other hand jumped out of his ball and landed on his feet.

"If you had enough.." Metal said, "Then tell me why you attacked me!"

But in his surprise, he saw the figure getting up off the ground with no effort, brushing off the dirt from it's coat like he wasn't even injured at all.

The figure then reached for the zipper and zipped it down to the bottom of the chest area, which he then reach inside with his right hand. He then jerked it outward slightly, making a loud crack from his chest.

The figure breathed in and exhaled slowly as he took his arm out and zipped up his coat.

"That was a good blow." The figure said, with a young masculine voice "You smashed my ribcage inward, made it pretty hard to breath."

Metal was surprised to not only see the man in red talk to him, but also to see him reach into his chest and fixing it with a quick yank.

"Luckily, I've taken worse then that." the Man in Red said, "But I'll have to admit though, Your pretty good. You definitely have abit of Sonic in ya."

"Really?" Metal asked surprised by being complimented, "Well I guess I am...Wait!"

"You still haven't answered my question! Why did you attack me? And how do you know Sonic!?"

Metal's hand flamed up to show his aggression.

The man in red raised his hands defensively, "Whoa Whoa take it easy there bud!" He pleaded, "Let me explain!"

The man lowered his arms, "For the first one, This was a test." He said coolly, "And you passed."

"A test?" Metal asked his hands flaring up more, "But you could have killed me!"

"Don't get your rivets undone." The man said calmly, "I wasn't going to kill you anyway."

Metal's flames died down, and his colors returned to their original shades.

"You...weren't?" Metal asked surprisingly, "But why?"

"Like I said." The man replied, "It was all a test. I want to make sure that you are good enough for what lies ahead."

"For what lies...ahead?" Metal asked curiously.

"Yep." The man said, "Your enemies won't be as merciful as I am."

"If I was really gonna kill you." He added, "I could go behind you..."

He then vanished from Metal's sight, "And knock off your head in less then a second." he heard from behind, so he swiftly looked behind only to see nothing.

"I'm over here." He heard again, turning back around to see the man standing in the same spot.

"But..." Metal started, "How did you.."

"I don't have much time to explain." the man cuts off, "Let's just say I'm a friend. And I got a few things that can help out alot."

With that said, the man reached into his coat pockets and pulled out two items. One looked like a small cube with circut patterns around it, while the other looked like a set of shades, shaped like Metal's eyes.

The items then floated from the man's hand and towards Metal, who instinctively motioned back alittle.

"Don't worry." said the man, "Just touch 'em. They won't bite."

Metal was alittle at first, but he did so. When he did, the two devices vanished and he could feel a new power in his systems.

"The cube thing is an electrostatic shield generator." The man explained, "A device that can create a shield that can protect you from all sides, and can adapt properties from your Fire Form or any others that you can take. But it takes a lot of power so don't use it too often."

"The shades are what I call a Duel Scanner. A new feature for you visuals, which can tell the amount of stamina and energy your opponent has or has left."

Metal then used the Scanner, which made a crosshair and circle appear in his vison, to look at the Man's stats.

Name: ?

HP: ?

FP: ?

"You can't really use that on me." the man said, "I'm just complicated that way."

Metal shut off the Duel Scanner, "Thank you." He said, "These will come in handy."

But then he looked around to see the air around him started to fade. "W-What's happening?" He asked frightened.

"Your just waking up." the man replied, "Oh and one more thing, watch out for any black stars."

"Why?" Metal asked.

"It would be really bad if you touch one." the man said, "And don't worry, we'll meet again."

"But how.." Metal asked before disappearing from the man's sight.

The man in red was left alone in the street. He took in a deep breath, as he looked up to the cloudy sky, which started to sprinkle rain.

"Stay alive for me Metal..." the man said, "Until the next time we meet."

* * *

Metal slowly regained consciousness, but he couldn't see anything. Even though he couldn't see anything, he heard two different voices, both speaking in the same garbled gibberish he heard before he passed out.

Slowly his visuals lit up, but to only what others would consider just a crack. He saw that he was sitting on the ground legs stretched out. He shifted his head around quietly to see that he was in a hut made of sticks and he was facing the doorway, but it was blocked by two strange creatures outside the door, both with their backs turned. The two looked like coconuts with arms and legs, one was wearing a red grass skirt, the other one green and both wielded spears.

Metal tried to move, but he couldn't move his arms. He tried looked to the side slightly to see his arms tied behind him to a pole he was laying on.

'This is not good.' Metal thought, 'I need to get out of here...but where is here?'

He then looked back at the 2 conversing coconuts, 'And just what are those...people?'

Suddenly he remembered the dream he had, when the man in red gave him the "Duel Scanner".

'I could give that a shot.' he thought.

Metal focused alittle bit when the crosshair appeared in his eyes, looking over the one in the green skirt.

Name: ?

HP: 500

FP: 100

He then focused on the one in the Red skirt.

Name: ?

HP: 550

FP: 150

Metal lowered his shoulders and sighed abit, 'He should make this thing show some more details.'

Suddenly the two coconuts stopped talking and straightened out with spears planted to the ground. A short silhouette appeared, it looked familiar but it had pointy ears.

"Has the machine awakened yet." Metal heard an elderly male voice say.

The one in green spoke it's gibberish, which made the silhouette do what looks like nodding.

"Interesting." He said, "Allow me inside."

The two coconuts jumped alittle, the red one spoke abit more frantic.

"It's alright." The figure said, "It's only one of them."

The two slouched abit but they separated away clearing the doorway. Metal had no idea what's going to happen, but he just shuts off his visuals and lowered his head making it look like he's still asleep.

He heard soft footsteps walking towards him cautiously until it stopped infront of him.

"You don't need to pretend." He said, "I saw your eyes before you turned them off."

'So much for that.' Metal thought, he lifted his head up and slowly flashed his eyes on. What he saw was what looked like an older version of a goomba, only it was a lighter shade of brown and a cream white midsection, a orange leaf on it's forehead, a pair of brown rings over the eyes, a pair of raccoon ears on top, and a raccoon tail that was swaying to and fro.

Metal was frightened at first, because the goomba furrowed his brow like he was mad at something. He stared into his eyes alittle bit, as if to check him out.

"What is your name." He asked.

Metal didn't expect that, so he answered, "It's...Metal sir."

"Metal." said the goomba as he nodded slowly, "Your spinia friend spoke very highly of you."

"Spinia?" Metal asked, "You mean Hammy? Where is he?"

"Easy my friend." the goomba answered, "Your friend is safe, my granddaughter is watching him for now."

Metal acted out a sigh in relief, "That's good." he said, then he look to see the elderly goomba looking back into his eyes.

"Uh.." Metal uttered feeling uncomfortable, "Excuse me Sir, but why are you looking at me like that?"

The elderly goomba just stared now with an eyebrow slightly raised. After another minute of staring, His face softened up.

"Even though you are a machine." The goomba said, "I can see a soul inside the shell."

"My...soul?" Metal asked intrigued.

"Yes my friend." The goomba replied, "I have a gift for seeing the truth of someone, as one's eyes are a window to the soul."

"And I see that you have no cruelty, but kindness. No greed, but selflessness. And a sense of purpose."

The elderly goomba lowered his head, "But I did see something else." he added solemnly.

Metal tipped his head to the side, "Something else?" He asked, "What?"

"Yes." he nodded, "A black power hiding deep within."

The goomba raised a brow slightly, "And that makes me cautious."

If Metal could he'd gulp, as he was having a bad feeling in his circuits.

"Now then." The elder piped up, "Not to long ago, machines like yourself have attacked our old village, forcing the tribe into hiding."

"Machines like.." Metal said before stopping, as he realized who the elder was talking about, "You mean Metal Knuckles and his group?"

"Metal Knuckles?" The elder asked, "If you mean the red one with dreadlocks and spiked fists leading the other machines, then yes."

"Which begs the question, what is your relation to those abominations?"

"I got nothing to do with them!" Metal said quickly.

"And yet." The elder said, "You look strikingly similar to their leader and another, why is that?"

Metal lowered his head, "It's because I believe we were created by the same person." He said softly before looking up again, "But I am not like them! And I don't even know what I was built for?"

"So believe me when I am saying that I'm trying to stop them." He added, "It's because he kidnapped the Mario Brothers!"

The elderly goomba's eyes widened, "So...The brothers have been captured."

Metal tipped his head to the side, "You didn't know? I thought everyone in the Kingdom would know about that."

"Well." The elder said, "Everyone heard that Bowser was defeated again, but that's just about it."

'Guess the princess didn't want everyone to get into a panic." Metal thought.

"And now that they've been subdued." the elder added, "Those machines can now find the Items unimpeded."

Metal was surprised by that remark, "You know about the six Items?"

The elderly goomba looked surprised, "Of course, but how did you not.."

Suddenly, the elder was cut off at the sound of an explosion along with several other voices panicking. The 2 coconuts ran through the doorway, with the green skirted one speaking franticly.

The Elder widened his eyes at this, "They've found us?!" He exclaimed, "Assemble the army! We mustn't allow them to capture the Item!"

The coconuts saluted then charged out of the hut, leaving Metal and the Elder alone again. The Elder looked back at the tied up Metal, with a grim look on his face. He saw that Metal looked confused and with a hint of fear.

He stared for a minute, but then he walked behind Metal, bit down on the ropes and tugged abit to make the ropes fall off.

Metal got to his feet, rubbing his wrists from the rope burn. He looked at the elderly goomba who was walking out of the door only to stop at the entrance way.

"I know that my people will not be willing to accept you." He said without looking back, "But will you aid us to protect our home and protect our tribe's most valued treasure?"

Without even a second thought, "Yes." Metal answered, "I will do whatever I can."

And without another word the goomba ran out, with Metal following behind. And when he finally saw what was outside, he finally saw the village.

The "village" was more like a few huts, hidden among the trees for camouflage. And in the center of it all was a large tent with four Thwomps from earlier, surrounding it on all 4 sides.

Metal then saw many of the raccoon goombas and coconuts, racing around as they were getting ready for the upcoming conflict. But slowly one by one the villagers looked towards the blue robot following their elder, some with fear, some with looks of hate. Metal couldn't help but feel exiled by all of the stares he was receiving, being despised for being a machine that looked similar to their enemy.

"Hey Metal!" he heard a familiar young voice. That derailed his train of thought, as he sees Hammy spinning towards him.

"I was wonderin' where you were at!" He said excitedly as he stopped infront of Metal, "I was gettin' worried!"

"Hammy!" Metal said gladly, as he lowered down to his friend's eye level, "What happened to you?"

Hammy then started to explain his half of the story. It turns out that when Hammy woke up from their fall, he too was tied up and was being asked questions by a younger, but more forceful girl goomba, who's species are actually called Tanoombas, a sub species of goomba that have the ability to transform. And another pair of coconuts, who are now known as Coconutters.

When they also heard the explosion, the girl tanoomba and the coconutters actually left him tied up, but with alittle spin and squirm he managed to escape.

"And that's what happened!" Hammy exclaimed, "Those jerks just left me in there!"

"I think they has her reasons." Metal said, "So don't get so angry."

"I knew it!" said a female voice.

The both looked to the side to see another tanoomba approaching them. This one was much younger then the elderly tanoomba, about in her teens. The most striking feature about her is that her leaf has a four pointed star with a circle in the center.

"I knew that you to work for them!" The tanoomba shouted, "You brought those monsters here!"

As she said that, the other villagers started to converge around them, all angrily adding their two cents as some had what looked like knives tied to their belts, but one with a dark brown beard and moustache looked like it was wearing a headband with a red stylized S in the center and had 4 of what looked like bombs on it.

Metal held up his hands in defense, and Hammy just skidded backwards abit.

"Hang on a second girl!" Hammy said, "We got nothin' to do with those metal heads!"

"No offense." He added, speaking to Metal.

"None taken." Metal replied.

"Don't try to lie!" one of the tanoomba's shouted.

"I say we melt the robot down and roast the little one!" said the bomb holding one.

"Good idea Joe!" shouted another one, with the coconuts speaking in agreement.

The mob roared in agreement. Metal and Hammy were shocked by this, but Hammy and Metal both were looking for a way out of their predicament, but a familiar voice shouted out.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Suddenly the mob split away to reveal the elderly tanoomba from before, but this time he was wearing a samurai helmet with the emblem of a gold coin on the front, a pair of armored sandals, and what looks like a katana that was positioned backwards, making the handle behind him.

"We do not have time for meaningless squabbles!" He exclaimed, "These two are not our enemies!"

A sound of confusion spread thought the crowd, "I've seen into their souls." The elder said, "They were not here to destroy us, but to aid us in our time of strife."

"Our prayers have been answered by our ancestors. We must allow them to fight along side us."

"I know you all are angry and afraid, but on my honor, these two will be our saving grace from the abominations. I trust them."

Metal felt truly touched by this, but he also felt another kind of fear. The fear of not being able to exceed this elder...no, this warrior's expectations. But a look of certainty from the warrior's eyes were strangely comforting, despite his grim face.

"Now then." the Elder, pulling out his katana with his tail with great grace and forcing it up high.

"Ninjas assemble!"

Both Metal and Hammy couldn't believe the amount of coordination made by them all, as they saw the army form from years of practice.

The line up in the first two lines were the coconutters, with the butts of their spears planted to the ground.

The rest were the tanoombas, all of them had a different variety of weapons on each of their belts, like kunai knives, shuriken, smoke bombs the works.

The elder turned away from them as he sheathed his sword, "And now." he said, "Our enemies will be here any minute, so be on your guard."

He then looked over the crowd to see Metal and Hammy at the back of the crowd.

"Metal!" he called out, "You and your friend come up here."

The two were curious to why the elder wanted them to be up, but they did as they were told.

The two couldn't help hear some of the whispering coming from the crowd.

"Is he really sure they can be trusted?" said a female voice.

"Well the elder hasn't been wrong before." said a male one.

"I don't know." said the girl again, "What if they try to murder him?"

"Don't worry." answered the male voice, "There's only two of them."

If duo couldn't help but shiver abit after hearing that, but he still made it to the front. When the two got there, Metal saw someone else beside the elderly warrior. It was the same girl from before, judging by the same four pointed star on her leaf. She was giving a nasty glare at the duo, mostly at Metal.

The elder motioned his head, as if to tell him to come closer, so he did.

"Metal." he said then looked at Hammy, "Hamburger, I wish for the both of you to join us as I believe your assistance will be needed."

"But grandfather." Spoke up the girl tanoomba, "Are you sure that is wise? The machine could still be like...them."

That last word was laced with venom, sending a shiver down Metal's rivets.

"Now now Tanombella." assured the elder, "Their is nothing to fear."

Metal couldn't help but feel the icy glare aimed at him. But then he heard a small whisper coming from Tanombella.

"Grandfather may regard you and your friend as allies, but I do not." She said silently, "I suggest you leave when they arrive, so I may not have to cut you down."

"As far as I'm concerned, you are no different then those other machines."

Metal felt hurt by that remark, but Hammy was fuming.

'Who does this girl think she is!?' He thought angrily, 'We didn't even do diddly squat and she thinks were the bad guys!'

Suddenly, a noise could be heard from far ahead of them. It sounded like a huge tank, smashing the trees out of it's way. Metal's eyes could actually pick up the vague shape of the vehicle heading their way.

As the sounds gotten louder, Metal, Hammy, Tanombella, The Elder and the rest of the villagers tensed up, ready for the conflict at hand.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: All material belongs to their respective owners.

* * *

All throughout the woods, the sound of tank treads crushing everything under it's weight echoed. All of the animals from birds to rodents, scurried and flew away from the approaching danger.

In the village, The elder, Metal, Hammy, the elder's granddaughter Tanombella, and the rest of the villagers waited anxiously as a dark shape appeared from yards away.

The machine crawled closer and closer, making the people in it's path starting to back up a little.

"Hold your positions!" the elder ordered. This somehow made the villagers stay, but it didn't help remove the fear that danced in their hearts, living or otherwise.

Even Hammy was frightened by this vehicle, as Hammy started to move away, but he felt a metallic hand ontop of his head. He looked up to see Metal looking down at him, his eyes seem to give off a soothing glow that helped calm Hammy down.

Hammy gave a quick nod and looked back to the front, seeing the tank roll towards them. Even though Metal didn't show it well, his legs shook alittle in fear also.

"If you both are cowards," said the girl tanoomba beside her, "I suggest you leave at once, so I that I may not strike you when your 'friends' arrive."

"Tanombella." The elder said with warning, hearing that statement.

As soon as the tank was just a few yards away, it slowed down as steam hissed out of the sides. After about 20 seconds, it finally stopped just 40 Ft from the small army.

It looked like a large rectangular box, just slightly taller then the treetops and five times as wide as one of the Twomps in the village. On the front, their was a painted insignia that looked like the head of a red echidna with what looked like a diamond on the forehead.

Hammy's thought were racing, 'I wonder if these guys are as bad as Metal said they are.' He thought, 'I mean these guys have a Tank for cryin' out loud!'

Everything was silent for a minute, with nothing but wind blowing through the trees. That is until a sharp sound rang out from ontop of the tank, like a loud padlock being unlocked paired with the sounds of a metallic groan from what everyone thought was a hatch opening.

Another whir of machinery was heard as something was rising out from the top. The shape was extremely familiar to Metal. An egg shaped body, yellow, grey, and red in color, and a gun for a right hand.

'Egg Robo.' Metal thought remembering the name that his enemy called him. Metal's eyes glowed abit in both anger and fear but mostly fear.

Egg Robo looked down, then jumped off the tank, slowing his fall with a jetpack that came from his back until he touched the ground with a metallic clank.

'That has to be one of the guys Metal was talking about!' Hammy thought

The egg robot looked around the village, seeing it's inhabitants poised for battle.

Egg Robot the crossed his arms and spoke with a much different voice then the monotone voice from before.

"Well, well, well." He said, sounding an awful lot like Eggman, if he was a robot, "Looks like I've found the rats that got away."

He then spotted Metal, "Ah Metal Sonic." He said, "It's been a while hasn't it? What with master smashing you into the ground and all."

"And I see that you've allied yourself with these...rodents."

Hammy then moved forward, "At least he's not a coward that goes around and smashing everyone in his way, ya oversized egg timer!" He snapped.

Swiftly, Egg Robo, aimed and fired his laser to the ground just infront of Hammy, "I suggest you keep your trap shut." He warned, "It's going to kill you one day, hopefully today."

Hammy shook violently with fear, shaking at the possibility of being blasted to bits. This made Metal step forward infront of Hammy, "If your going to shoot someone, Why not shoot me?" He asked.

Egg Robo lowered his gun, "To be honest I wanted to blast you the first moment we met." He answered, "But I'm willing to make a deal with you."

Metal was interested, "What kind of deal?" He asked suspiciously.

"It's simple my blue friend." He answered, "Like before, You can either get turn to scrap metal and be recycled for future robotics, or you can join us."

"Think about it, you, me, the rest of us were made from the same mind and hands that built us bolt by bolt. So we could be considered a 'family' per say."

Metal tipped his head in confusion, "A family?" he said softly.

"Yes Metal." Egg Robo replied, "But you've been tampered with, having your circuits tinkered around by these inferior creatures."

"But, like the one I'm based off, I can repair you. Make you even more powerful in some ways."

"And with you by our side, we could accomplish what our feeble creator could never do!" Egg Robo said as he spreads his arms, "TO CONQUER AND RULE OVER THIS WORLD, THIS GALAXY AND THE ENTIRE COSMOS, NO ONE WOULD EVER RESIST AGAINST THE MACHINES AS WE WILL BE THE ABSOLUTE RULERS OF ALL CREATION!

'Oh great." Hammy thought sarcastically, 'A villain ranting, so scary.'

Metal's thought were different as he looked to the side slightly, 'The doctor wanted to rule the world? That was what I was made to do, help him conquer?'

Egg Robo lowered his arms, "But all we need to do to achieve our goal, is for you to swear your allegiance to us and aid us to collect the six Items, So we may use there power to do what we were manufactured to do."

"So." Egg Robo said, "Are you going to join us, or are you going to betray your family and be destroyed along with these vermin?"

All eyes were on Metal, Hammy wanted to say something, but he didn't want to get blasted.

'Don't do it Metal!' He thought, 'Your not like them, you know that!'

Tanombella was thinking differently, 'He will accept.' She thought, 'He's no different.'

Metal's CPU was frantic with thought, 'Should I? I mean, that all I was made to do right?'

'Do it.' he heard a part of him say, 'We are the superior beings. You think the organics are nothing to us.'

'No..' Metal added, 'They're not nothing, I never thought that!'

'Yes you have. Your soul is blue, your heart is steel, and inside your mind lies an urge to rule with a true iron fist.'

'That's not true!' Metal thought, 'I mean, Hammy, Glimmer, E. Gadd, the Princess...they are my friends.'

'They are but pawns in this game and we are the kings.' The voice said 'Why should we care with what happens to them or this world.'

'I...I...' Metal couldn't find the right words.

"Having a hard time deciding?" He heard Egg Robo say, breaking his train of thought, "Maybe this will help your decision."

Egg Robo then pressed a button on his gun, causing the front of the tank to open, revealing the inside which has dozens of goomba shaped machines. But what really draws Metal's attention is the people inside of the two cages hanging from the ceiling.

One was a star lying down inside a small spherical cage. "Glimmer!" Metal shouted out, recognizing him immediately.

But inside another cage was someone was someone that Metal didn't meet but felt some familiarity.

It was a young woman on her knees, who had light tan skin with long, very light brown hair with a star hairclip on the right side. She wore a royal blue formal dress with purple trimmings and the bottom had small white stars circling around the edge.

Her eyes were what really draw Metal, as they were a lovely jade green that had some kind of hypnotic effect to them. Right now her eyes had the look of surprise, as she was looking at Metal.

'Princess Galaxia...' Metal thought as he realized that she was the other person to find.

"I see that you recognize the squirt Metal Sonic." Egg Robo said, "We caught him just alittle while ago when he was flying through the forest like mad."

Egg Robo then used his left hand to snap his fingers, which made the cage Glimmer was in to move towards him on a railing until it stopped at the tanks entrance.

"But unfortunately for him, He not only found his precious 'princess' but he found us as well."

"And we have been using him as leverage, so the Princess would cooperate."

Egg Robo then aimed his gun arm at Glimmer.

"Stop Please!" pleaded the Princess who even frightened sounded beautiful, "You said you wouldn't hurt him if I did what you want!"

"Yes you have." Egg Robo replied, "But your job isn't done yet, And I think I'll still remind you what will happen to everyone here if you try to resist us."

Egg Robo looked back at Metal with his gun still aimed at Glimmer, "And you...If you don't decide within the next five seconds, This star's light is going to go out."

"Five."

Metal was surprised by this, as he only had 5 seconds to decide.

"Two."

After that sudden jump to two, Metal finally made his decision with a plan.

"Alright!" Metal shouted, causing Egg Robo to stop his countdown "Alright...I'll go with you, just don't hurt him or anyone else here."

Everyone on Metal's side was on edge, but surprisingly the Elder remain calm.

Egg Robo chuckled as he lowered his weapon, "I knew you see things my way. Now move aside, We have an Item to collect."

Metal looked as he was about to move to the side when he suddenly looked up at the sky to his enemies and pointed while shouting, "What the heck is that!?"

"What!?" Egg Robo shouted as he looked up, only to see nothing but sky.

Suddenly, Metal rolled into a ball and rammed himself in Egg Robo's midsection, knocking him back into the crowd of robot goombas.

Metal then unrolled as he jumped at Glimmer's cage and removed it from the railing. Metal landed on the ground with a clank.

The tanoomba and coconutter army and the Elder were awestruck.

Hammy jumped up, "I knew you'd never turn on use!"

Tanoombella was just as stunned, 'So he didn't do it...' She thought.

Metal looked back at the tanoomba army, "Hang onto him!" He said as he set it infront of the Elder, "I'll get the princess!"

"Hang on Metal!" Hammy shouted out spinning forward, "I'm comin' too!"

"We're all in this." The Elder said stepping forward, "The princess is our responsibility also."

"And we cannot let these monsters have her any longer!"

The rest of the army roared out in agreement.

Egg Robo finally got back to his feet, "Fine then." He said, "If you wish for your princess, Then you will have to pry her from my cold, steel hands!"

He then thrusted his gun arm forward and shouted out, "Robo Goomba's Attack!"

The robo goombas eyes turn red as they started to run past their general towards the opposing faction.

The Elder had drawn his katana with his tail and pointed forward with the cry, "For Galaxia!"

The army cried out, "For Galaxia!" and charged forward with Metal, The Elder, Hammy, and Tanombella in the front.

As the two armies ran closer, Metal's mind had one thing inside, 'Don't worry princess, I will not fail you!'

Just before the armies clashed, three tanoomba's behind their Elder jumped forward.

"TRANSFORM!" they shouted, disappearing into a puff of smoke only for three Thwomps with small raccoon tails attached to appear in their place, slamming down onto the robot's front line before changing back!

"Whoa!' Hammy thought, 'That explains our little chase earlier!'

But his train of thought was broken when a Robo Goomba tried to headbutt him. Hammy jumped back then retaliated by jumping forward, point first, into his enemy's face, causing it to shatter and spark.

The Elder, though old, held himself well against the robots as 3 of then pounced on him, only to swiftly swing his sword, slicing all three with easy.

Tanoombella was surrounded by six robots, who lunged at her, only for the girl to leap into the air and spinkicked them all, breaking the robots.

She set her feet back to the ground, 'Pieces of junk.' She thought smugly.

And while all this was going on, The cage that had Glimmer inside was being kicked around, but he didn't even stir as he was deep asleep.

Metal had a hard time as some of the robot goombas dogpile onto him, only to be forced off when a burst of energy appeared and disintegrated the robots. Metal was surrounded by what looked like a shield of electricity.

'Whoa.' He thought as he remembered what the man in red said from his dream.

(-Flashback-)

"The cube thing is an electrostatic shield generator." The man explained, "A device that can create a shield that can protect you from all sides, and can adapt properties from your Fire Form or any others that you can take. But it takes alot of power so don't use it too often."

(-End-)

The shield disappeared, which caused Metal to feel slightly weaker.

'He's right.' He thought, "I can't use it too much."

"Head's up Metal!" he heard a voice say. Metal turned around to see a Robot Goomba being smashed by Hammy with a flying kick, I think.

"Thanks Hammy!" Metal said as his friend landed.

"No time for that!" Hammy said suddenly while a Fire Flower was on his head, "I want to give you this!"

Metal was stunned as he picked the flower up, "Hammy, where did you.."

"I brought another one with me just in case!" Hammy said.

"Yes but how did you.." Metal said, before being cut off when another robot leaped at him, causing him to jump back to dodge the attack.

"Just use it!" Hammy shouted before spinning back into the fray.

Metal nodded, as the Fire Flower bursts into flames, surrounding him like last time. The flames disappeared, revealing Metal in the white and red colors of his Fire Form.

Metal looked past the brawling Tanoombas and robots to the tank, which was sending more and more robots out.

He saw the princess, who looked terrified, but relieved when she looked at Metal's gleaming form.

"Hang on princess!" Metal shouted as the attack Menu appeared again.

(Specials)

Spin Break

Fireball

Fire Shield

He selected "Spin Break", causing his thruster on his chest to spin again, it went faster and faster until it went to maximum RPM with flames shooting out the back. Metal rolled into a white and red ball and shot forward, with fire surrounding him. As he bowled straight through the army, smashing them and/or melting them slightly, Egg Robo was watching the whole thing, but he wasn't angry for having his soldiers destroyed.

When the fight started, he just looked on at the Thwomps surrounding the tent which he knew contained his prize.

"Now's my chance!" He said, as his jetpack ignited and he shot off, above the battle below.

After The Elder bisected another robot, he spotted the egg robot flying towards the tent.

'No.' The elder thought, causing him to race after the robot.

Metal uncurled as he made it to the tank, throwing a few fireballs to destroy some of the robot goombas.

He ran up to the cage that held the Princess and leaped up and held onto the door.

"Nice to finally meet you Princess!" Metal said as his eyes had a happy look to them.

The princess smiled, "I knew you would come." She said happily, "Just as I hope you would."

Metal then tried to yank the lock off her cage, but it was on tight, but then he had an idea.

"Princess!" He said, "Stay back!"

She did so as Metal's right hand started to erupt with fire. He then gripped the lock tightly as the fire started to increase with intensity. After about a minute, The lock started to melt until it turned into melted slag and fell to the floor, making the door able to open.

Metal shook off the melted debris and his hand then lost it's flame.

"Come on!" Metal said as Galaxia slowly held onto his hand which was warm to the touch.

"Let's get you out of there!" And with that, Metal and the princess jumped down to the floor when Metal noticed something!"

He then looked past the battle, to see Egg Robo and the Elder duking it out near the Thwomp protected tent, with Egg Robo having the upper hand. The Elder was busy dodging the egg robots laser fire while trying to get in a swing with his sword, but with Egg Robo's jetpack, he kept flying out of range.

One of Egg Robo's shots managed to his leg, which made a nasty burn that caused tremendous pain as he cried out, making him drop down alittle.

"Fool." Egg Robo said, aiming his gun at the elder's head "Your ancient relic is no match for the power of my gun."

The Elder grunted as he looked up into the barrel, "Only an honorless dog uses those weapons against a true warrior's sword."

Egg Robo chuckled as his gun barrel started to glow inside, "Who needs such pointless ideals as "Honor" when you have superior firepower!"

Before the shot was fired, something struck Egg Robo, causing him to fire his gun into the sky and making him hit the Thwomp beside him.

The one that landed the hit was Tanoombella, who landed infront of her grandfather.

"Are you alright Grandfather?" She asked worried.

"It is alright." He said, struggling to stand up, "It's just a flesh wound."

Egg Robo got up swiftly and flew up high, "You little rat!" He shouted angrily.

A door opened in his chest as he reached in with his left hand, "I was saving this for the right time, But I think that time is now!"

He then pulled out what looked like a black star.

Princess Galaxia then gasped, "Oh No!" She shouted.

"What is it?!" Metal asked, "What's wrong?!"

"That is a Dark Ztar!" the Princess replied, "A very dangerous item that can crush whatever the user throws at it!"

Now realizing that Tanombella and the Elder were in trouble, "Princess!" Metal said, "Get out of here and find someplace safe!"

Galaxia looked at him in confusion, but then realized what he was going to do. So she nodded and ran out of the tank and hid behind a nearby brush.

Metal started his turbine again, and shot through the battlefield, being careful not to hit his allies.

Egg Robo just casually tossed it up and down, "I should of done this before." He said, "But better now then never!"

Egg Robo threw the black star as hard as he can into the air, which then started to grow in size. It grew more and more until it was twice the size of a Thwomp!

Everything seemed to slowdown as the star fell, with the Elder and Tanombella watching in horror. That is, until Metal pushed them away.

Then all went back to normal speed as the star slammed down onto Metal with a massive crash!

Everyone fighting immediately stopped, as they saw the huge star onto the ground.

Egg Robo was surprised by this, 'I don't believe it.' He thought, 'He actually sacrificed himself for those vermin?'

"...YES!" Egg Robo shouted with glee, "That stupid hedgehog is finally gone! GAHAHAHA!"

Tanombella and Hammy were horrified by this turn of events, even the villagers were horrified.

Galaxia had her hands cover her mouth, 'No...' She thought, 'It can't be so...warrior...'

Hammy was shaking slightly "No way man." he said shakily, "Metal..."

Even with all the despair, Egg Robo kept on showing his joy, "What an absolute idiot! Sacrificing himself for rats?! What a joke!"

"Shut Up!" Hammy shouted, causing Egg Robo to stop and look down at him, "Losing ones life to save a friend is not a joke! Your nothing but a heartless punk who doesn't understand the meaning of being loyal to others!"

Egg Robo chuckled, "Of course I do." He said, "But I rather save my own plating then to be offline for the sake of those inferior."

He then pointed his gun at Hammy, "And I did tell you to shut your trap?"

Suddenly, the earth shook, causing a few tanoombas and robots on the ground to topple over.

Hammy looked around, "What the!?" He said, "An earthquake!?"

The Elder then looked at the black star, "No..." He said softly, "I see...darkness blooming..."

Everyone then see black electricity coming from the star and moving into the ground. The black bolts of electricity started to strike at everything around it.

"Get Back!" The Elder shouted, "Everyone get back now!"

The army retreated away from the striking electric bolts, which struck and destroyed a large group of the Robo Goombas that remained still.

After a few seconds and with much of the Robo Goomba army destroyed, the star started to shrink rapidly, until it unveiled star shaped hole with a black shape in the center.

The shape then rose out of the hole, revealing to be shaped like Metal's body. His body was rising out like someone picking up a ragdoll.

But then, the shape started to change. It grew taller by about a foot, his quills grew longer by half a foot with two more sprouting out from the back. His hands grew slightly into sharp talons and his feet looked almost elven like.

The new shape landed onto the ground as the blackness slowly melted off of it, revealing Metal's new form. His colors looked darker, with white highlight lined on all the quills and he had a very menacing aura around him.

His eyes flashed on as he looked upon the people before him. His eyes were not the same friendly kind that Metal had before, but were filled with hate and evil.

The thing formerly Metal looked down at himself then to his hands, "I live..." It said softly, with a synthesized demonic voice.

He then spread his arms outward while screaming, "I LIIIIIIIIIIIVE! GAHAHAHAHA!"

His laughed echoed throughout the forest, chilling everyone, even the machines to the core.

The evil laughter finally ceased as the new creature of metal looking at his form, "At long last." He said, "I have finally returned."

"Hey Metal?" the being heard Hammy asked, causing him to look to see the top close to him, "You alright?"

"Hamburger!" the elder goomba shouted, "Do not go near him!"

Swiftly, the new evil Metal backhanded Hammy causing the top to fall back in the crowd. Hammy got back up shaking his head from the blow, "What was that for!?" He shouted, "Why'd you hit me?!"

The Evil Metal just chuckled, "You really should have listened to the old organic." He said, "Creatures like him tend to know things."

Hammy was staring daggers, "Answer me Metal!" he shouted.

The being tipped his head and placed his right hand under his chin, "Metal?" he asked with a mocking tone, "Oh, you mean that loathsome copy."

"A...copy?" Hammy asked, along with some murmurs from the tanoombas.

"Yes you ignorant whelp." the being said, "The one you know as Metal was nothing more then a copy, and a poorly made one infact."

"So do not dare call me by that name, for I go by the name Neo Sonic."

"Hohohohohoho!" Neo Sonic heard, seeing Egg Robo coming down to the ground, "That's the Metal Sonic I know!"

Neo Sonic's eyes glowed brighter, "I said before." He said with venom, "I..am..Neo Sonic. Not that piece of iron and circuitry."

"Sure." Egg Robo said nonchalantly, "Keep telling yourself that."

Neo Sonic's eyes went slightly brighter.

"But seriously." Egg Robo continued, "Now that your here, we can finally rule this world without anymore distractions."

"What do you say?" he finished with a hand out.

Neo Sonic just stood there until, "The only distraction here." he said pointing his right palm at Egg Robo, and it started to crackle with dark energy, "Is you."

Suddenly, a black beam shot out of his hand, slamming into Egg Robo and he flew a few feet before slamming into a tree, causing the tree to break in two.

"I know about you and your compatriots." Neo Sonic said as he lowered his arm, "All of you are but failed experiments, not worthy of my time."

He then looked at the Thwomp guarded area, "I also know that those Items I've been hearing about, will me mine and mine alone."

Egg Robo shot his head up shouting "WHAT!?" He then got back on his feet with his gun ready, "WE ARE NOT FAILURES!"

Egg Robo's gun barrel started to glow inside, "FOR THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU BECOME NOTHING MORE THEN A SCORCH MARK!"

Egg Robo started to fire wildly at Neo Sonic, but without even moving from his spot, he simply raised his right hand and blocked the all the shots with minimal effort. Egg Robo finally stopped only to see not even a black spot was found on his enemy's hand.

"All to easy." Neo Sonic said as he lowered his arm.

Egg Robo literally started to steam as it escaped from his shoulders, "Fine then." he said darkly, "I've been wanting to test this since we've first got here."

Egg Robo crossed his arms and his visuals turned off. Then the air around him started to bend like a mirage only to fluctuate more and more erratically. Neo Sonic stood there with his nonexistent eyebrow raised.

Suddenly Egg Robo's visuals turned on but they started to glow a deep red color.

"Activate Chaos Drive!" he shouted.

He opened his arms as a yellow energy erupted from his being, making the Tanoombas shield their eyes as they and the robots to be forced back by the amount of energy. Neo Sonic just stood there not moving an inch even from the intense wave of energy.

After about a minute of light show, the energy quickly disappeared, revealing a new version of Egg Robo. All the red and yellow were replaced with a golden yellow and all the grey became a brilliant silver.

"So...Neo Sonic." Egg Robo said with glee, "What do you think?"

"This is the fruit of our research. The Chaos Drive, one of the upgrades me and my allies installed before being sent here. But we haven't really tested it out till now."

Egg Robo slowly looked over himself, "And I must say." He said, "The results are satisfactory so far."

Neo Sonic felt indifferent about this turn of events, "I see." He said, "You managed to create artificial Chaos energy to power yourself up."

"But to be honest, I have seen better."

Egg Robo was alittle ticked hearing that, "What?" he asked darkly.

Neo Sonic looked at his right hand, "I may not have the power I use to have." He said, then he made a fist, "But with the energy of that star, I can easily eliminate you even in you transformed state."

"Grrrrr." Egg Robo growled as the yellow energy started to rise, "I'll show you!

After saying that, his jetpack erupted with a white hot flame, scorching the ground beneath him as he rises into the air.

Neo Sonic just shrugged, "Amateur." he said simply as dark energy started to come from his feet, which also made him rise into the air until he reached Epic Egg Robo's height.

Egg Robo pointed his gun at Neo Sonic, "So you can fly big deal!" he said, "Now, feel the power of Epic Egg Robo!"

Neo Sonic clenched his fist, making his body glow with black energy, "No my friend." He said, "It will be you who will feel true power."

"We'll see about that!" Egg Robo shouted as he thrusted towards his enemy. "So be it." Neo Sonic said as he also thrusted towards his enemy.

* * *

Metal, the real Metal, saw black, and only black. He didn't remembered what happened before, but here he was.

"Metal..." he heard a voice.

Metal stirred from the sound, "Who was.." he said very groggy.

"Hey Metal! Wake Up!" the voice shouted, causing Metal to finally turned on his eyes. He then saw a place completely different then the dreams before.

Everything was black, but with what look like a glowing purple lines in a grid pattern for the ground, while the sky looked like a giant dark blue circuit board with purple electricity surging through different spots.

He then looked down at himself, only to see that all his color was replaced with black with an outline of neon blue.

"Is this another dream?" Metal asked himself.

"No Metal, This is your mind." He heard a familiar voice answer, so he swiftly turned around to see a red ball the size of Metal's head, it had a what looked like a set of overlapping plates that made a hood-like helmet, and a pair of white-ish eyes.

Metal was confused, "Ehh.." he started, "Who are you?"

The red ball looked offended, "Oh come on Metal!" it exclaimed, "Don't tell me you forgot me already!"

"It's me! That dude that gave you your equipment, remember?"

It took Metal a few seconds, but then he remembered, The man dressed in red.

"Yeah that's right!" the Red orb said, "I knew you'd never forget me!"

Metal was shocked by this, "How did you know what I was thinking?" He asked.

The red ball then motioned upward while simply saying, "Thought Bubble."

Metal raised an eyebrow and looked up, only to be surprised to see cloud of static with a clear image of a question mark. Metal jumped alittle which caused the question mark changed into a exclamation point.

"How that get there!?" Metal asked.

"Like I said." said the red ball, "This is your mind, or to be technical your CPU."

"So I can see and hear your thoughts." he added.

Metal looked at him in confusion, "But how did you get here?" he asked.

"You know that equipment I gave you?" the red ball asked, "Well I put a small piece of myself into them. Because I knew you wouldn't take my advice."

"Advice?" Metal asked.

The red ball nodded, "Yeah, I told you not to touch any black stars, but you did anyway."

"I had no choice!" Metal exclaimed, "The elder and his granddaughter would have been crushed!"

The red ball shook his head, "Don't get your data in a bunch." he said, "I didn't say they were Suppose to get crushed. That's why I planned in advanced."

Metal just held his head, "Just how did you know all this?"

Suddenly, an alarm could be hear as everything around the two started to flash in a shade of red.

"Warning, Multiple Viruses Detected." Said a computerized voice, "Activating De-Resolution."

"Ah crud." the red ball said with a sigh.

"That sounds bad." Metal said quietly.

Suddenly, multiple pixilated portals appeared around them as they are swiftly replaced with new figures.

The entities have a striking resemblance to Metal, but all of them have some major differences. One is that their quills were longer, their right hands are replaced with what looked like small cannons, and their outlines was a deep violet instead of Metal's neon blue.

The being pointed their cannons at the duo.

"Yep it's bad!" The red ball shouted, "Hang on!"

After saying that, the red ball shot into the ground causing a large rift to form that Metal fell through. The rift immediately sealed back up, making the entities look at each other in confusion.

* * *

Outside of Metal's mind, Neo Sonic and Epic Egg Robo were still fighting. Epic Egg Robo fired yellow lasers at Neo Sonic, only for them to be backhanded away, causing a few of the lasers to fall at the forest and knocking a few trees over.

One of the lasers blasted the trunk of a tree near the villagers, making it fall near where Princess Galaxia was hiding. Luckily she jumped away just in time as the tree slammed behind her. Hammy and everyone saw the princess on the ground, "Princess!" shouted the Elder as he, Tanombella and Hammy rushed over.

"My Princess." said the Elder, "Are you alright?"

Galaxia rose to her feet, "I'm fine." she answered as she brushed off her dress. She looked up at the fighting robots with sadness in her eyes.

"This is just...horrible." She said with a tear.

"Yes." said the Elder, "He has been engulfed by the darkness."

Hammy turned towards him with surprise, "But it wasn't his fault!" Hammy shouted, "It was that black star thing that made him like that!"

The elder shook his head, "I know it wasn't his choice." the Elder said assuringly, "But I find it strange..."

Hammy raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" he asked.

The elder looked at Hammy, "Normally a Dark Ztar just crushes it's target and fades." he explained, "But your friend somehow absorbed it's energy, making the evil within him grow until it's release."

Then the four heard a groan as they look to see the cage Glimmer was in, which had many dents from being kicked around. Glimmer moved around sluggishly and sat up, "Oh man." He said with a groan, "Have I got a headache."

Galaxia gasped, "Glimmer!" she called out, running up to the cage and crouched down next to it, as she tried to open the door on the cage, but it didn't move.

The Elder walked up with a limp, "Allow me princess." he said, then he drawn out his sword making the princess back away.

With a single swipe of his katana, he sliced the lock off the cage. He then used the tip of his blade to open the door.

Glimmer groaned again. "Princess?" he asked as he looked to see her, "Princess! Your not hurt are you?!"

Galaxia shook her head, "No, I'm alright." she said with a small smile.

Glimmer sluggishly flew out, "That's good." he said, looking around, "So...where's Metal?"

As if to answer, a stray laser zipped past him.

"What the?!" Glimmer said in surprise, then he looked up to see Neo Sonic and Epic Egg Robo still in a dogfight.

"What the snap happened to Metal?!" he asked, "He looks like he took fashion advice from a rejected heavy metal band!"

Hammy then spoke up, "The thing is, Metal got squashed by this black star thing when he saved the Elder and his kid. Then there was a lightshow of black thunderbolts and he transmorgified into that psycho who calls himself Neo Sonic!"

"Oh." Glimmer said simply.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, "Come on Princess!" Glimmer suddenly shouted, as he grabbed Galaxia's right sleeve and tugged on it hard, "I've got to take you to safety!"

Galaxia didn't move, "No Glimmer." she said as she forced her arm out of Glimmer's grip with a quick yank.

Glimmer was dumbstruck, "But Princess!" he cried, "I have to take you back! Your father will kill me if anything bad happens to you!"

Galaxia looked down to the ground, "I know you are worried about me." She said, "But all this happened because of me."

The tanoomba army were aghast, "Princess." The elder said, "You were just recently given the power. You just were not ready for conflict yet."

"Exactly!" the princess replied, "All this happened because I was not strong enough!"

Then the princess lifted her head with her face in fierce determination. She looked over to the group of Twomps still guarding, "And it is about time I made up for it!"

The princess then lifted the front of her dress and then started to run towards the Thwomps.

"Princess!" Glimmer shouted as he flew towards her, "Wait up!"

"Us too!" Hammy added, as he, the Elder, Tanoombella and the army followed.

* * *

Meanwhile around the same time inside Metal's mind, another portal opened and the red ball shot out. Metal came out after a second and landed on his feet when he touched digital ground.

"There." the Red Ball said with a huff, "We should be safe...for now."

Metal looked at the Red Ball, "What were those things?" He asked.

"That was your Anti-Virus software." the red ball answered, "Something took over and converted most of your data into that and all sorts of unfriendly bytes."

Metal nodded at this info but then started to look around their surroundings. It was a dirty alley way which was pretty solid as no digital lines were seen except for the sky, which stayed the same.

Metal then walked slowly towards the exit and peeked out. It looked like a city similar to the Red Sphere's, but it looked polluted and everything was technological. And in the distance was a large fortress that had spotlights flashing from the ground swinging from side to side.

"What is all this?" Metal asked softly, "I've felt like I've seen this before."

The red ball floated next to him, "Every mind has it's own landscape." he answered, "Shaped by ones personality, memories and desires."

"But...I don't remember any of this." Metal said with a short stammer, "Is this really my mind?"

"Yep." The red ball replied, "But your not control at the moment. Look over there." he finished as he nudged forward at the large fort, "Whatever is in control is in there."

"And that's where we're going."

Metal turned his head sharply, "What?"

The red sphere looked back, "Look, you need to get there before the guy in charge does something that could be disastrous outside, because while we're here yammerin' that guy is fighting Egg Robo, and his intentions aren't exactly pure if you know what I mean."

Metal looked scared by this, 'Oh no, then that means...'

"Don't worry Metal." the red sphere assured, "I'll help you get your mind back, even if it kills me."

"But first."

Suddenly the red sphere plunged himself into Metal's chest, causing Metal to cry out as he felt his data being reconfigured. His blue then changed to a deep violet, his quills lengthened a little and his right hand changed into a gun.

"What did you do?" Metal exclaimed as he looked over himself, "This feels really weird!"

"Don't jump out of your bytes." The red sphere said, but his voice came from inside Metal's digital mind, "I just gave us the perfect disguise. It's one of my many talents."

"Also since I'm in here, I can hold back your thought bubbles as long as you don't think too much."

Metal nodded at this, "Don't think too hard or we'll blow our cover got it!" he replied.

"Okay." The Red Sphere said, "Let's be on our way! Just aim your gun at the ground and fire, I'll do the rest."

Metal was confused by this but did what he said, pointed at the ground infront of him and willed it to fire. A yellow energy blast erupted and made another rift in the pavement.

Metal got the idea and then leaped into the portal, his friend shouted "Banzai!" in his head as he fell through.


End file.
